Do governments have a global responsibility to protect? Faced with crimes such as genocide it is quite clear now. But what about the case of natural disasters, such as the situation in Myanmar? Almost all the media are buzzing about the subject this week. There is even some call for the formation of a league of democracies who would intervene when the UN could not get its act together. The composition of the league raises nightmares of epic proportions - who would decide who gets in or not? Good article in the Economist entitled "To protect sovereignty, or to protect lives".
So will the debate of sovereignty vs intervention dilute the right of humanitarian involvement? Can this be considered a moral duty? As Edmund Burke (1729-1797) put it: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".