The Duty to Intervene in Conflicts Around the World Essay

The Duty to Intervene in Conflicts Around the World - Essay Example France, Belgium, the United States, and even the United Nations, did not intervene to stop the slaughter, and instead, they decided to pull out 90% of their peacekeeping soldiers and to evacuate all white people from Rwanda (â€Å"Genocide in Rwanda†; Rwanda Genocide Documentary). Some people believe that the U.S. and other powerful nations do not have a duty to intervene. We have a duty to intervene in conflicts around the world because it is right to do something that should be a universal law and because to do so without expecting anything in return is to treat people as ends in themselves who have moral worth. At the same time, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that member states have a duty to promote universal human rights and freedoms. Moreover, I believe that it is wrong to just leave and look the other way or to not do anything, like what happened to Rwanda, because these are innocent people who are unarmed and who have no one else to protect them, no t even their government, so another government should help them out of their humanity where compassion and goodwill live in. We have a duty to intervene in conflicts around the world because it is right to do something that should be a universal law. Immanuel Kant describes in â€Å"Good Will, Duty, and the Categorical Imperative† what it means do what is good. He offers two categorical imperatives, which are commands that must be done unconditionally. The first categorical imperative is to act according to the maxim that it â€Å"should become a universal law† (152). If nations help other besieged people in other countries, this should be a universal law because it is the act of rationality to help others in dire need. It is wrong then for France, Belgium, the United States, and the United Nations to not extend help to the Tutsis whom they were aware were being systematically slaughtered.