In the case of Syria these conditions have not been met; the evidence has not yet been provided – the weapons inspectors have yet to report, there have been very few peace talks to try to reach a peaceful solution or attempts at peaceful coercion such as sanctions. Will the attacks be proportionate? They will simply cause more damage and unless they are very large will not stand a chance of halting the violence.  Moreover in general terms it is difficult to see whether a responsibility to intervene really exists. There does not seem to be much agreement that humanitarian distress and the need for urgent relief allows unilateral action if the state that is in need of relief does not want it. There is certainly very little state practice (well not since 19th century imperialism anyway) where it has happened. [1] Even in the last decade there have been failures to intervene against states killing their own civilians in Chechnya, North Korea [2] and Uzbekistan. [3]  It is notable that this was very much scaled back from a more general doctrine of humanitarian intervention. This doctrine does not allow for any nation to take it upon itself to ‘protect’ another’s civilians rather it provides an opportunity for the United Nations to do so. [4] “The international community, through the United Nations, also has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter” this simply provided a mandate for the UN Security Council to intervene in such situations.  [1] Booth, Robert, ‘Syria: legal doubt cast on British government’s case for intervention’, theguardian.com, 29 August 2013,   [2] Ryall, Julian, ‘Up to 20,000 North Korean prison camp inmates have 'disappeared' says human rights group’, The Telegraph, 5 September 2013,   [3] ‘Uzbekistan: No Justice 7 years after Andijan Massacre’, Human Rights Watch, 12 May 2012,   [4] Thakur, Ramesh, ‘Is America now becoming an international outlaw?’, The Japan Times, 3 September 2013,