Episode 38: Non-intervention— past, present and future

Nehal Bhuta & Megan Donaldson

We see today flagrant breaches of the prohibitions on the threat or use of force, but also renewed pressure and scrutiny on a related but broader prohibition, the prohibition of intervention, forcible or otherwise. In some ways, it is this broader norm of non-intervention which presents the most deep-seated puzzles in international law and international politics. In a world of profound interdependence, when should states butt out of other states' business? Nehal Bhuta (Edinburgh) and Megan Donaldson (UCL) are joined by Marco Roscini (University of Westminster) and Frédéric Mégret (McGill University) to explore the past, present and future of this norm.

Scholarship referred to in the episode includes Marco Roscini, International Law and the Principle of Non-Intervention (2024); and Frédéric Mégret, Interference in Sovereign Affairs and the Discursive Economy of International Law (2025).