Can international military intervention secure access?
So what about the military? Can international military intervention, be it through so-called peacekeepers or through more aggressive action unblock humanitarian access in a situation where negotiated access has failed? In other words, does the use of force obviate consent? In many of the most intractable conflicts, from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan to Afghanistan and Colombia, the effective control of the state has faded away. Cold War guerrilla movements that may have been artificially united have been replaced by individualism. External financial support has been replaced by war economies based on robbery and illicit trade. Discipline can be rare, and in extremis every combatant is their own commander. This has consequences. Communities frequently do not identify with the dominant local faction. If, as in Bosnia and as illustrated by its absence in Somalia, outside military involvement to enforce access requires consent to be effective, from whom is that consent to come
