United Nations and the Yazidi : A Discourse Analysis on Arguments Around Intervention

Abstract: Since 1948, the United Nations (UN) has been tasked with trying to prevent genocides yet when it comes to providing militaristic intervention, the UN fails to act. This thesis explored why the UN did not intervene militarily in the Yazidi genocide of 2014 through analyzing the arguments in source documents from the UN bodies of the Secretary-General, Human Rights Council, and Security Council. This research utilized the international relations theories of liberalism and realism and was conducted through the method of discourse analysis through using codes in MAXQDA. Primary sources of UN documents and secondary sources in the field of intervention research, Yazidi research, and documentary sources of the conflict were used to uncover the reason the UN did not authorize military intervention. Through using the theories of liberalism and realism, the sources showed that the UN bodies were conscious of the human suffering and prioritized sending humanitarian aid in the form of supplies, sending fact-finding missions to investigate the conflict, and supporting local and regional organizations over international military intervention. The reason for this is due to an emphasis on protecting human rights from the Human Rights Council and a protection of sovereignty and resources from the Security Council. These findings both support and add to previous literature on intervention and the Yazidi genocide, however, there needs to be more research done both on the interaction of UN bodies and the Yazidi genocide.