# Non-interventionism

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Non-interventionism
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Non-interventionism.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-interventionism
> Source revision: 1328958304
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Foreign policy principle

**Non-interventionism** or **non-intervention** is commonly understood as "a foreign policy of political or military non-involvement in foreign relations or in other countries' internal affairs".[1][2] This is based on the grounds that a state should not interfere in the internal politics of another state as well as the principles of [state sovereignty](/source/State_sovereignty) and [self-determination](/source/Self-determination). A similar phrase is "strategic independence".[3]

Non-interventionism became a norm in international relations before [World War I](/source/World_War_I). During the [Cold War](/source/Cold_War), it was often violated in order to instigate revolutions, prevent revolutions, or protect international security. Many countries have since adopted their own interpretation of non-interventionism or modified it according to the [responsibility to protect](/source/Responsibility_to_protect) any population from [egregious crimes](/source/Atrocity_crime).[4]

## Terminology

In political science lexicon, the term "[isolationism](/source/Isolationism)" is sometimes improperly used in place of "non-interventionism".[5] "Isolationism" should be interpreted as a broader foreign policy that, in addition to non-interventionism, is associated with trade and economic [protectionism](/source/Protectionism), cultural and religious isolation, as well as non-participation in any permanent [military alliance](/source/Military_alliance).[6]

## History

The term "non-intervention" was used in the context of United States policy in 1915.[2]: 118 The [norm](/source/Norm_(sociology)) of non-intervention has dominated the majority of international relations and can be seen to have been one of the principal motivations for the United States initial non-interventionist policy in [World Wars I](/source/World_War_I) and [II](/source/World_War_II), and the liberal powers' [non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War](/source/Non-intervention_in_the_Spanish_Civil_War) despite the involvement of [Germany](/source/German_involvement_in_the_Spanish_Civil_War) and [Italy](/source/Foreign_involvement_in_the_Spanish_Civil_War#Italy).[7][8] The norm was then firmly established into [international law](/source/International_law) as one of the United Nations Charter's central tenets, which established non-intervention as one of the key principles which would underpin the emergent post-World War II peace.[9][10]

However, this was soon affected by the advent of the [Cold War](/source/Cold_War), which increased the number and intensity of interventions in the domestic politics of a vast number of [developing countries](/source/Developing_country) under pretexts such as instigating a "[global socialist revolution](/source/Revolutionary_socialism)" or ensuring "[containment](/source/Containment)" of such a revolution. The adoption of such pretexts and the idea that such interventions were to prevent a threat to "international peace and [security](/source/International_security)" allowed intervention under [Chapter VII of the UN Charter](/source/Chapter_VII_of_the_United_Nations_Charter). There must be a vote of nine member states out of fifteen, within the Security Council along with no vetoes from the five permanent members."[11] Additionally, the UN's power to regulate such interventions was hampered during the Cold War due to both the US and [USSR](/source/USSR) holding veto power in the [United Nations Security Council](/source/United_Nations_Security_Council).

## In different countries

### China

Main article: [Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence](/source/Five_Principles_of_Peaceful_Coexistence)

Mutual non-interference has been one of China's principles on foreign policy since 1954. After the [reform and opening up](/source/Reform_and_opening_up), China began to focus on industrial development and actively avoided military conflict over the subsequent decades.[12] As of December 2018, China has used its [veto](/source/United_Nations_Security_Council_veto_power) eleven times in [UN Security Council](/source/United_Nations_Security_Council).[13] China first used the veto on 25 August 1972 to block [Bangladesh](/source/Bangladesh)'s admission to the UN. From 1971 to 2011, China used its veto sparingly, preferring to abstain rather than veto resolutions indirectly related to Chinese interests.[14] According to [David L. Bosco](/source/David_Bosco), China turned abstention into an "art form," abstaining on 30% of Security Council Resolutions between 1971 and 1976.[15]: 140

### Sweden

Main article: [Swedish neutrality](/source/Swedish_neutrality)

Sweden became a non-interventionist state after the backlash against the king following Swedish losses in the [Napoleonic Wars](/source/Napoleonic_Wars); the *[coup d'etat](/source/Coup_d'%C3%A9tat)* that followed in 1812 caused [Jean Baptiste Bernadotte](/source/Jean_Baptiste_Bernadotte) to establish a policy of non-intervention, which lasted from the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 until the accession of Sweden into [NATO](/source/NATO) in 2024.

### Switzerland

Main article: [Swiss neutrality](/source/Swiss_neutrality)

Switzerland has long been known for its policy of defensively [armed neutrality](/source/Armed_neutrality). Its neutrality allows for the protection of the state by strategically avoiding conflict to preserve the autonomy of the state, and prevent the large powers surrounding it from invading its borders. This strategy has kept Switzerland from joining conflicts that threaten its sovereignty as well as allow its diverse citizenry to form a sense of national unity.[16]

### United States

Main article: [United States non-interventionism](/source/United_States_non-interventionism)

After the terrorist attacks on [September 11th, 2001](/source/September_11_attacks), the United States changed its foreign policy to support the idea that "norms of sovereignty" are not respected when there are threats of [terrorism](/source/Terrorism) or weapons of mass destruction.[17]

In December 2013 the [Pew Research Center](/source/Pew_Research_Center) reported that their newest poll, "American's Place in the World 2013," had revealed that 52 percent of respondents in the national poll said that the United States "should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own."[18] That was the most people to answer that question this way in the history of the question, which pollsters began asking in 1964.[19] Only about a third of respondents felt that way a decade earlier.[19]

### Russia

On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine) and began to mobilize machinery, shelling operations, and continuous airstrikes in cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Lviv.[20] Following the intervention, the United Nations Security Council attempted to invoke a resolution in order to address the Ukrainian issue. Since Russia is one of the five permanent members, they could utilize their veto power to prevent the resolution from passing. Many countries imposed [sanctions](/source/Sanctions_(law)) in response to the veto as an attempt to deter Russia from its intervention.[21]

## Decline

Since the end of the Cold War, new emergent norms of humanitarian intervention are challenging the norm of non-intervention, based upon the argument that while sovereignty gives rights to states, there is also a [responsibility to protect](/source/Responsibility_to_protect) (R2P) its citizens. The ideal, an argument based upon [social contract](/source/Social_contract) theory, has states being justified in intervening within other states if the latter fail to protect (or are actively involved in harming) their citizens.[22] The R2P doctrine follows a "second duty" that employs states to intervene if another state is unwilling or unable to protect its citizens from gross human rights violations.[4] Moreover, the [International Criminal Court](/source/International_Criminal_Court) closely monitors states who are unable or unwilling to protect their citizens and investigate if they have committed egregious crimes. Non-intervention is not absolute. [Michael Walzer](/source/Michael_Walzer)'s *[Just and Unjust Wars](/source/Just_and_Unjust_Wars)*, which identifies three instances for when intervention is justifiable: "1) a particular community seeks secession or "natural liberation" within a set of boundaries; 2) counter-intervention is necessary to protect boundaries that already have been crossed; or 3) a terrible "violation of human rights," such as "cases of enslavement of massacre" has occurred.[17] Nations use these guidelines to justify violating the non-intervention norm.

That idea has been used to justify the UN-sanctioned intervention [Operation Provide Comfort](/source/Operation_Provide_Comfort) in Northern Iraq in 1991 to protect the [Kurds](/source/Kurds) and in [Somalia](/source/Somalia), [UNOSOM I](/source/UNOSOM_I) and [UNOSOM II](/source/UNOSOM_II) from 1992 to 1995 in the absence of state power. However, after the [US "Black Hawk Down" event in 1993](/source/Battle_of_Mogadishu_(1993)) in [Mogadishu](/source/Mogadishu), the US refused to intervene in [Rwanda](/source/Rwanda) or [Haiti](/source/Haiti). However, despite strong opposition from Russia and China, the idea of the responsibility to protect was again used to justify [NATO intervention](/source/NATO#Kosovo_intervention) in Kosovo in 1999 and the [2011 military intervention in Libya](/source/2011_military_intervention_in_Libya).

The new norm of humanitarian intervention is not universally accepted and is often seen as still developing.[22]

## See also

- [Interventionism](/source/Interventionism_(politics))

- [Isolationism](/source/Isolationism)

- [Neutral country](/source/Neutral_country)

- *[A Few Words on Non-Intervention](/source/A_Few_Words_on_Non-Intervention)* by [John Stuart Mill](/source/John_Stuart_Mill)

- [International relations theory](/source/International_relations_theory)

- [Prime Directive](/source/Prime_Directive), a non-interventionist principle in the fictional *[Star Trek](/source/Star_Trek)* universe

- [List of anti-war organizations](/source/List_of_anti-war_organizations)

- [List of countries without armed forces](/source/List_of_countries_without_armed_forces)

- [List of peace activists](/source/List_of_peace_activists)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Smith, M. (2010). ["The Myth of American Isolationism, Part I: American Leadership and the Cause of Liberty"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170320031411/http://www.heritage.org/global-politics/report/the-myth-isolationism-part-1-american-leadership-and-the-cause-liberty). *The Heritage Foundation*. Washington D.C.: 2. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Hodges01_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Hodges01_2-1) Hodges, Henry G. (1915). [*The Doctrine of Intervention*](https://archive.org/stream/doctrineinterve01hodggoog#page/n24/mode/2up). Princeton, The Banner press. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-???_3-0)** Carpenter, Ted Galen (1997). *The Libertarian Reader*. Free Press. pp. 336–344. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-684-83200-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-684-83200-5).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_4-1) Henderson, Stacy (2019). ["The Evolution of the Principle of Non-Intervention: R2P and Overt Assistance to Opposition Groups"](https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/gloresp11&div=24). *Global Responsibility to Protect*. **11** (4): 365–393. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1163/1875984X-01104002](https://doi.org/10.1163%2F1875984X-01104002). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1875-9858](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1875-9858) – via Hein Online.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Romanov, V. V.; Artyukhov, A. A. (2013). ["The Notion of "Isolationism" in U.S. Foreign-Policy Thought: Conceptual Characteristics"](https://www.elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_21336929_87848794.pdf) (PDF). *Vestnik Vâtskogo Gosudarstvennogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta* (in Russian) (3–1). Kirov, Russia: 67. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1997-4280](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1997-4280).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Artiukhov, A. A. (2022). ["The Conceptual Characteristics of the Notion "Isolationism" at the Current Historical Stage"](https://research-journal.org/archive/8-122-2022-august/10.23670/IRJ.2022.122.54). *Meždunarodnyj Naučno-Issledovatel'skij Žurnal [International Research Journal]* (in Russian). **8** (122). Yekaterinburg, Russia: 2. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.23670/IRJ.2022.122.54](https://doi.org/10.23670%2FIRJ.2022.122.54). [eISSN](/source/EISSN_(identifier)) [2227-6017](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2227-6017). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1997-4280](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1997-4280).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Corum, James S. (April 1998). "The Spanish Civil War: Lessons learned and not learned by the great powers". *Journal of Military History*. **62** (2): 313–334. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/120719](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F120719).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Rodrigo, Javier (2017). "On fascistization: Mussolini's political project for Franco's Spain, 1937–1939". *Journal of Modern Italian Studies*. **22** (4): 469–487. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/1354571X.2017.1350024](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F1354571X.2017.1350024).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Non-Intervention (Non-interference in domestic affairs)"](https://pesd.princeton.edu/node/551). *The Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination*. Retrieved 28 September 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Purposes and Principles of the UN (Chapter I of UN Charter) | United Nations Security Council"](https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/purposes-and-principles-un-chapter-i-un-charter). *www.un.org*. Retrieved 28 September 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Roth, Brad (2022). ["Democratization's Discontents: Rediscovering the Virtues of the Non-Intervention Norm"](https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/cjil23&i=165). *Chicago Journal of International Law*. **23** (1): 161–177.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-China-non-interference_12-0)** Brown, Kerry (17 September 2013). ["Is China's non-interference policy sustainable?"](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-24100629). *BBC News*. Retrieved 17 September 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-UNSC_Research_Guide-2015_13-0)** [Security Council – Veto List](http://research.un.org/en/docs/sc/quick/veto). Retrieved 17 December 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Pei, Minxin (7 February 2012). ["Why Beijing Votes With Moscow"](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/opinion/why-beijing-votes-with-moscow.html). *The New York Times*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bosco2009_15-0)** Bosco, David L. (2009). [*Five to Rule Them All: The UN Security Council and the Making of the Modern World*](https://archive.org/details/fivetorulethemal00bosc). Oxford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-532876-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-532876-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Morris, Kate, White, Timothy J. (2011). "Neutrality and the European Union: The case of Switzerland". *Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution*. **3** (7): 104–111. [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [154842039](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:154842039).{{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_17-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_17-1) Elden, Stuart (2006). "Contingent sovereignty, territorial integrity and the sanctity of borders". *SAIS Review of International Affairs*. **26** (1): 11–24. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1353/sais.2006.0008](https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fsais.2006.0008).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-HealyExamDec10_18-0)** Healy, Gene (10 December 2013). ["It's not isolationist for America to mind its own business"](http://washingtonexaminer.com/its-not-isolationist-for-america-to-mind-its-own-business/article/2540441). Washington Examiner. Retrieved 13 August 2014.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-PewCommentaryDec3_19-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-PewCommentaryDec3_19-1) Lindsay, James M.; Kauss, Rachael (3 December 2013). ["The Public's Mixed Message on America's Role in the World"](https://www.people-press.org/2013/12/03/commentary-by-james-m-lindsay-and-rachael-kauss-of-the-council-on-foreign-relations/). Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Retrieved 13 August 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Suarez Ortiz, Santiago; Henríquez Torres, Isabella; Angulo Medina, Ricardo (3 February 2023). ["The Russia-Ukraine conflict: analysis of the international responsibility of the States, the principles of non-intervention, and prohibited use of force under the International Court of Justice jurisprudence"](https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::5d6f6e2f01f38eae429f33653960ad7e). *Revista Ruptura*: 89–116. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.26807/rr.v4i4.111](https://doi.org/10.26807%2Frr.v4i4.111). [eISSN](/source/EISSN_(identifier)) [2737-6346](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2737-6346). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1390-7182](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1390-7182).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Grant, Thomas D. (May 2024). "Russia in the United Nations Security Council: Charter Principles and Credentials Procedure". *Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law*. **57** (3): 837–875. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0090-2594](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0090-2594).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_22-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_22-1) [Evans, Gareth](/source/Gareth_Evans_(politician)) (2004). "When is it Right to Fight?". *Survival*. **46** (3): 59–82. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/00396330412331343733](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00396330412331343733). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [154653540](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:154653540).

### Bibliography

- Kupchan, Charles A. (2020) *Isolationism: A History of America's Efforts to Shield Itself from the World* (Oxford University Press, 2020).

- Romanov V. V., Artyukhov A. A. (2013) [The Notion of "Isolationism" in U.S. Foreign-Policy Thought: Conceptual Characteristics](https://www.elibrary.ru/download/elibrary_21336929_23442819.pdf) / V. V. Romanov, A. A. Artyukhov // Vestnik Vâtskogo Gosudarstvennogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta. – № 3-1. – pp. 67-71.

- Wheeler, N.J. (2003) "The Humanitarian Responsibilities of Sovereignty: Explaining the Development of a New Norm of Military Intervention for Humanitarian Purposes in International Society" in Welsh, J.M. *Humanitarian Intervention and International Relations* Oxford: Oxford Scholarship Online, pp. 29–50.

- Walzer, M.J. (2000) *[Just and Unjust Wars](/source/Just_and_Unjust_Wars)* New York: Basic Books, pp. 86–108.

## External links

- Media related to [Non-interventionism](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Non-interventionism) at Wikimedia Commons

- [John Laughland: Non-interventionism: The Forgotten Doctrine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mgLUrFRt6k) on [YouTube](/source/YouTube_video_(identifier))

v t e Anti-war and peace movement Peace advocates Anti-nuclear organizations Anti-war movement Anti-war organizations Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Coalition of Women for Peace Code Pink Conscientious objectors Counterculture Culture of Peace ECOPEACE Party Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp Iraq War resisters in Canada List of pacifist organisations List of peace activists New Socialist Party of Japan Pacifist Socialist Party Peace and conflict studies Peace camp Peace churches Peace commission Peace conference Peace congress Peace education Peace movement Peace psychology Peace treaty Peaceworker React, Include, Recycle Social Democratic Party (Japan) Unity The Women's Peace Crusade War resisters Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Ideologies Ahimsa Anarchism Anarcho-pacifism Anarcho-punks Christian anarchism Anti-imperialism Anti-nuclear movement Antimilitarism Appeasement Christian pacifism Deterrence theory Direct action Finvenkismo Green politics Hippie Isolationism Modern-war pacifism Non-interventionism Nonkilling Nonviolence Pacificism Pacifism Peace Satyagraha Soviet influence on the peace movement Testimony of peace World peace Media and cultural Art Books Concert Yutel for Peace Dances of Universal Peace Festival for Peace Films Imagine Piano Peace Project International Day of Non-Violence International Day of Peace Dialogue Among Civilizations List of peace prizes List of places named Peace Monuments and memorials Mother's Day Proclamation Nobel Peace Prize Concert Museums Peace & Love (festival) Peace journalism Peace News Promoting Enduring Peace Peace One Day Plays Promoting Enduring Peace Show of Peace Concert Songs Symbols The Non-Violence Project University for Peace World Peace Bell Association Japanese Peace Bell Women in Black World March for Peace and Nonviolence Slogans and tactics Bed-in Central Park be-ins Civil disobedience Conflict resolution Counter-recruitment De-escalation Demilitarisation Department of Peace Desertion Draft evasion Die-in Economic sanctions Flower power Global Day of Action on Military Spending Human Be-In Lesson of Munich "Make love, not war" Military-industrial complex Non-aggression principle Nonviolent resistance Non Violent Resistance (psychological intervention) Peace walk Peacebuilding Refusal to serve in the Israel Defense Forces "Soldiers are murderers" Swords into ploughshares Teach-in "The whole world is watching" Third Party Non-violent Intervention "Turn the other cheek" "Violence begets violence" War tax resisters Opposition to specific wars or their aspects War of 1812 (UK; US) American Civil War Second Boer War World War I World War II Vietnam War list of protests War on Terror Iraq War Criticism Protests Afghanistan War Military action in Iran Sri Lankan Civil War 2011 intervention in Libya Anti-war protests in Russia (2014) 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in Russia in Russian Far East Gaza War in the U.S. Calls for a ceasefire Landmines Military taxation Nuclear disarmament International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Nuclear weapons convention Countries Canada Costa Rica Germany Israel Japan Netherlands Spain Sudan Switzerland United Kingdom United States Peacebuilding in Jammu and Kashmir Category

v t e Colonization, decolonization, and separatism By region Exploration Americas Africa Asia Oceania Antarctica World oceans Extraterrestrial Colonization and Imperialism List of empires Americas Antarctica Africa European colonies Asia Southeast Asia Oceania World oceans Extraterrestrial Asteroid belt Mars Moon Titan Trans-Neptunian objects Venus Decolonization and Anti-imperialism Sovereign states formation dates Americas in South America Africa Asia Europe Ottoman Iberia Ukraine Oceania General topics Exploration Maritime history (European) Age of Discovery Colonization Antiquity — Imperialism Chartered companies Interventionism Colonialism Chronology History Empires Detribalization Settler colonialism wars Current: Non-self-governing Dependent Colonial empires in the modern era Overseas, major: British Dutch French German Italian Portuguese Spanish Overseas, minor: American Australian Austro-Hungarian Belgian Couronian (Polish-Lithuanian) Danish New Zealand Norwegian Swedish Mostly contiguous: American Chinese Japanese Ottoman Russian South African Decolonization and Separatism Independence Declaration Diplomatic recognition Facts on the ground Referendum Limited Namibia exception Non-recognition Partition Unilateral Nation-building Non-interventionism No man for colonies Political status Right to homeland Rebellion List Rump state Secession Self-determination League of Nations mandate Separatism Active Political parties Historical Sovereignty Special Committee on Decolonization Territorial integrity Wars of national liberation List Related concepts Anabaptism Analysis of European colonialism and colonization Endangered language Christianity and colonialism Criticisms of globalization Decolonization of knowledge Decolonization of public space Indigenous peoples Internal colonialism Neocolonialism Opposition to immigration Plantation Postcolonialism Settler Standard of civilization Terra nullius Uncontacted peoples Zionism

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Non-interventionism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-interventionism) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-interventionism?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.