State Sovereignty Discourse and the Just War Tradition: Assessing Colombia’S 2008 Cross-Border Raid Into Ecuador and Its Foreign Policy Implications

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State Sovereignty Discourse and the Just War Tradition: Assessing Colombia’S 2008 Cross-Border Raid Into Ecuador and Its Foreign Policy Implications i State sovereignty discourse and the Just War Tradition: Assessing Colombia’s 2008 cross-border raid into Ecuador and its foreign policy implications Kim Refshauge Master of Arts (Research) in International Studies, School of International Studies, University of Technology Sydney 2017 ii CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP This thesis is the result of a research candidature at the University of Technology, Sydney as in fulfilment of the requirements for a Master’s degree. I certify that the work in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a different degree. I also certify that the thesis has been written by me. Any help that I have received in my research work and the preparation of the thesis itself has been acknowledged. In addition, I certify that all information sources and literature used are indicated in the thesis. Signature of Student: Date: 27-July-2017 iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am grateful to my supervisor, Associate Professor Jeff Browitt, for his unwavering support and dedicated supervision over the last two years. I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to my parents for their encouragement. This thesis would not have been possible without them. v vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION: ............................................................................... 1 Military interventions similar to Operation Phoenix: ........................... 2 Typology of justifications for military interventions .......................... 10 Thesis structure ................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................... 16 Part One: The Colombian armed conflict ........................................... 16 Part Two: Sovereignty discourse ....................................................... 22 Part Three: Just War Theory ............................................................... 42 CHAPTER TWO: OPERATION PHOENIX ..................................... 61 Part One: Background ......................................................................... 61 Part Two: Applying Just Armed Conflict Theory ............................... 79 CHAPTER THREE: THE AFTERMATH OF THE RAID ................ 96 Part One: The domestic reaction ......................................................... 96 Part Two: The international reaction ................................................... 99 CHAPTER FOUR: AVOIDING AN INTERSTATE WAR ............ 105 Part One: The basis for peace ........................................................... 106 Part Two: Jus Post-Bellum ................................................................ 116 CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 119 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................. 127 vii ABSTRACT In March 2008, under the code name “Operation Phoenix”, the Colombian military attacked the base camp of a section of the left-wing guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), located just across the border in Ecuadorian territory. The guerrilla base was stationed inside Ecuador to carry out activities inside Colombia, retreat and thus avoid Colombian troops. However, the attack by the Colombian military was not sanctioned by the Ecuadorian government, which prompted a diplomatic crisis in the region. This kind of limited military intervention remains a topical area of study as national militaries continue to battle armed, non-state actors around the world. This thesis seeks to determine under what circumstances, if any, a nation-state such as Colombia is morally justified in violating the sovereignty of another country. The study is conducted through the lens of state-sovereignty discourse and Just War Theory. It evaluates the foreign policy implications of military interventions like Operation Phoenix. The thesis seeks to address a gap in the existing literature by explicitly addressing Colombia’s modern foreign policy from an ethical perspective. viii 1 INTRODUCTION: On 1 March 2008 Colombian President Alvaro Uribe ordered the military to attack a base of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), inside the Ecuadorean border. The base had been established by the FARC to avoid Colombian troops. No prior warning was given to the Ecuadorean government. The raid, code-named Operación Fenix (Operation Phoenix), lasted only hours and resulted in 25 deaths, including that of senior FARC commander Luis Édgar Devia Silva, better known under the pseudonym “Raúl Reyes,” as well as an Ecuadorian citizen, four Mexican students invited to the camp, and a Colombian soldier. Colombian troops also retrieved secret FARC documents, which indicated that the left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa were supporting the rebels. The raid was a military and domestic political success for the conservative Uribe administration; defeating the FARC, the country’s largest insurgent group, was a government priority. However it set off a regional diplomatic crisis. This thesis investigates the Uribe administration’s justifications for invading a neighbouring sovereign, democratic state in peacetime and the implications for Colombian foreign policy then and now. The broad aim is to use Operation Phoenix as a case study to determine under what circumstances, if any, a nation-state is morally justified in violating the sovereignty of another country, and more specifically, if a perceived military threat ever justifies a preventative military strike. This paper initially frames the response with reference to sovereignty discourse. Operation Phoenix reflected a self-contradictory conception of sovereignty held by the Uribe administration: while the Uribe administration demonstrated a commitment to the preservation of Colombian sovereignty, it paradoxically ceded partial authority to a foreign government – the United States − and violently undermined the sovereignty of a neighbouring state. This thesis scrutinises Operation Phoenix by analysing it through the framework of the principles of Just War Theory. My conclusions are less concerned with the legality or strategic merits of Operation Phoenix than with sovereignty discourse and Just War Theory: the conclusion does not seek to declare the raid to be absolutely right 2 or wrong or provide moral absolutes. Rather, the purpose is to determine why the Uribe administration carried out the raid and why it defended its actions in the way it did. The thesis also strives to make an original contribution to the literature on the Uribe Administration’s foreign policy. A great deal of contemporary analysis on the Colombian civil war has focused on human rights violations, strategic competition between the key players, the bilateral relationship between the United States and Colombia, and attempts to the end the violence through negotiation. Much less has been written on the topic of international military intervention as a component of Colombia’s foreign policy, especially in English-language texts. This reflects the fact that Colombia’s military has historically focused on internal threats rather than external ones. In other words, Operation Phoenix was an anomaly. By studying it, this author hopes to draw insights into Colombia’s foreign policy imperatives. In terms of methodology, the thesis will employ a narrative literature review in the first chapter and policy analysis in the second, third and fourth chapters. The sources primarily consist of governmental statements, treaty documents, official correspondences, non-governmental reports, newspaper articles and scholarly texts. The research project does not include any field work, such as interviews. This is because the decision makers would likely not make themselves available and, even if they did, they would probably not deviate from previous public statements. A second consideration was the nature of Operation Phoenix and its location. The raid was conducted by the Colombian military, police and clandestine agents with covert support from the United States. It took place in an isolated region outside the control of the Colombian state. Given these factors, the risks and difficulty of conducting an investigative piece less reliant on official sources do not outweigh any likely benefit. Military interventions similar to Operation Phoenix: This study of Operation Phoenix will contribute to knowledge on Colombian military policy as well as similar, limited military interventions elsewhere in the world. There are six key factors of Operation Phoenix that distinguish it from other 3 kinds of armed interventions. First, it was authorised by the government of a nation-state. Secondly, the targets of the attack were non-state actors. Thirdly, the attack took place in a neighbouring country with which the aggressor state was at peace. Fourthly, the attack was limited in terms of duration, targets, resources and territory. Fifthly, the attack was carried out openly by the military of the aggressor nation-state, rather than exclusively using proxy forces or somehow denying responsibility. Lastly, the targets were not acting under the direct authority of the host state. There have been numerous other interventions in the post-World War Two era that also contained these elements. The diversity of these interventions in terms of geography, ideology, era, language and strategic
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