'Intervene I said' : the collapse of communism and the rise of human rights

In March last year, only days after NATO’s military intervention in Libya, the French ‘New Philosopher’ Bernard-Henri Lévy held a reception for Libyan insurgents at the Hôtel Rafael in Paris. Among the guests was Bernard Kouchner, the founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), who played a major role in popularising the so-called ‘right to intervene’ on humanitarian grounds. Originally conceived as a justification for humanitarian NGOs to cross state borders, this ‘right’ has now morphed into a legitimisation for state military campaigns such as the one underway in Libya.