Measuring the Success of Geopolitical Intervention
- To measure success, a wide range of variables need to be considered. These include improvements in:
- Health: More citizens will be vaccinated than before and infant mortality would have declined.
- Life Expectancy: This would increase for men and women.
- Education Levels: Literacy levels would improve.
- Gender Equality: Women would be as literate as men and have access to the same opportunities.
- Freedom of Speech: Fewer restrictions on media and opinions.
- The Management of Refugees: An efficient system would be implemented.
- Increases in GDP per capita: Growing wealth.
- For some governments and IGOs, the introduction of democratic institutions and the freedom of expression is vital for future development, especially for democratic and capitalist states such as India and the USA respectively.
- For other countries, such as China, success is measured through economic growth which provide promising future projections.
- These nations regard issues such as human wellbeing as less influential on the development of human rights and of democratic institutions.
The Success of Development Aid
- There is a complex relationship between aid, development, health and human rights. This relationship is not fully understood as it is unclear how these factors interplay with one another.
- For instance, there have been success stories in Botswana after aid provision but relative failure in Haiti and Iraq, who have become dependent on outside states.
- In states receiving large amounts of development aid, such as Africa receiving benefits from China due to the 2006 African Policy implemented by China, economic inequalities have increased.
- For example, it has been the elites of Africa who have largely benefitted from the aid China has provided. The deepening of inequalities has severe impacts on health and life expectancy.
- Development aid is perhaps a method of achieving a superpower presence. Wealthy nations may use aid as an extension of their foreign policies, judging success by their access to resources, political support, military alliance and the formation of allies.
- From this perspective, China has been successful in creating a superpower presence by donating development aid to Africa, now an allied nation to them.
The Success of Military Intervention
- Military intervention and its success are debateable. The recent history of interventions, both direct and indirect, suggest that there are significant costs involved, leading to the loss of human rights and sovereignty.
It is questionable whether short term interventions are beneficial in the long-term when secondary impacts come into force. Lack of action could create further negativity, hence Cote d’Ivoire in 2011 was successful.