"United Nations Intervention in Refugee Crises after the Cold War"

Refugees have been ubiquitous in recent cases of international intervention. But, to what extent do refugees serve as the rationale to intervene? Do refugee flows legitimate intervention? To answer such questions, principal cases of recent UN interventions are examined including Northern Iraq (to protect the Kurds), Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Rwanda. Substantial evidence is found in UN resolutions and related documents to infer a trend towards greater consideration of refugees when deciding about intervention. Yet, such consideration is less 'humanitarian' than security-focused. That refugees pose threats to others, not solely or principally their own suffering, continues to dominate multilateral decisions to intervene.