Humanitarian intervention after Kosovo: emergent norm, moral duty or the coming anarchy?

In March 1999 NATO justified the use of force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the grounds that it was necessary to avert an impending hu manitarian catastrophe. This action was so controversial because it was the first time since the founding of the United Nations that a group of states , acting without explicit Security Council authority, defended a breach of the sovereignty rule primarily on humanitarian grounds. This article reflec ts on the legality and legitimacy of humanitarian intervention in internati onal society by reviewing five books that explore the strengths and weaknes ses of the contemporary legal and moral framework governing humanitarian in tervention. The article identifies three broad positions: first, there is a n emergent norm of humanitarian intervention; second, humanitarian interven tion is seen as a moral duty; and finally, the claim that humanitarian inte rvention outside Security Council authority should not be legitimated becau se it threatens the principles of international order.