Recent actions in Libya show that ‘liberal interventionism’ to support the human rights of civilians is not exempt from politics

Recent actions by NATO in Libya seem to some to represent a new ‘liberal interventionism’, and has stared debates about different countries’ levels of involvement, especially after the recent withdrawal of US air power. Chris Brown finds that against this background the Western intervention in Libya, ostensibly to protect civilians and their human rights, is an unavoidably political one.