International Insecurity and the Use of Force Research Paper

International Insecurity and the Use of Force - Research Paper Example The formation of the United Nations is the most notable as it was formed soon after the end of Second World War with the main objective of promoting international peace and security. Moghaddam (2010) notes that whereas all actors acknowledge the essence of international security and the importance of avoiding international insecurity, they have not agreed fully on how to achieve this noble endeavour. There is a section of international actors that argue that force should not be used at all in the pursuit of international security, or addressing international insecurity for that matter. On the other hand, there are those who argue that use of force is necessary in addressing international security. This paper focuses on international insecurity and the use of force in an attempt to understand how these two aspects are conceptualized. Influence Decisions and actions in the international arena do not occur in a vacuum; instead, they are influenced by transnational actors, public opinion s, the media, and the interest groups. This is evidenced by how these actors have influenced the use of force (or lack of its use) in addressing international insecurity, for example in the case of the United States’ invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan (Chakravorty and Neti, 2009). Events such as the Hezbollah’s attacks targeting the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, the September 11, 2001 attacks targeting symbolic locations in the United States, and the series of crises in recent times in Syria and Libya bear all the features of international insecurity. What is of more interest in this paper is how they should be responded to: should force be used or alternatives to use of force are used? Transnational actors have greatly influenced the use of force in addressing international insecurity. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is the most notable transnational actor which has influenced the use of force in tackling the international insecurity (Yost, 2007). It was part of the United States invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and most recently played a key role in ousting the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. However, other transnational actors such the UN Security Council have discouraged the use of force and have been advocating for the use of diplomacy (Yost, 2007). Most of the interest groups have also been against the use of force in addressing the international insecurity; for example, the American Conservative Union and Human Rights Watch have been against the use of force and argue that such use of force often lead to death of innocent people especially women and children. There has been divided public opinions regarding the use of force as a means of addressing international insecurity; there are those who are totally against it while others (especially the victims of international insecurity) consider use of force as the best strategy to tackle international insecurity (Ersen and O?zen, 2010). Just like is the case with the public opinion, med ia is divided on whether force should be used as a means of solving the problem of international security. Expected Utility Theory It is no doubt that the question of whether force should be used in addressing international insecurity is a â€Å"hot† one with opinions divided in the centre with those against it on one side and those for it on the other. Expected utility theory can be very critical in helping