Still, the cost of letting such conflict go unchecked is often very high, and so effective means of intervention must be developed. Deciding to Whether to Intervene Opponents of intervention typically raise two points. First, they argue that ethnic conflicts are often too intense for effective intervention. The combatants should be allowed to exhaust each other, and so their desire for peace to grow, before intervention is attempted. Second, intervention in internal conflicts violates the target nation's sovereignty.
Outsiders lack a clear mandate to justify their intervention.
They often lack the skills and knowledge to intervene effectively. Still, there have been some significant and successful interventions into internal conflicts. The UN oversight of the decolonization of Namibia, and the Cambodian elections are two notable examples. First, we may intervene militarily if there are overarching strategic reasons to do so. Second, we may intervene if the issue is important, and success at a reasonable cost seems likely.