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And even when all non-military means have failed, armed intervention may still not be the right answer.
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Moscow and Beijing are strongly opposed to armed intervention, saying the outcome in Syria should be decided by its people.
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Russia and China are strongly opposed to armed intervention, saying the outcome in Syria should be decided by its people.
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The Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council should understand that avoiding foreign armed intervention will be conducive to the overall interests of the Arab world.
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However, French President Francois Hollande, speaking in Paris, said an "armed intervention" was not being ruled out, provided it followed deliberation by the UN Security Council.
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The arguments against armed intervention are far from trivial.
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IMF, but may find it withheld because of the war: the United States, which has been pressing for peace talks between Congo's government and its rebels, has made known its disapproval of Zimbabwe's armed intervention.
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The fact that Russians themselves want nothing to do with an armed intervention in Syria might be inconvenient or objectionable, but this is something that advocates of a more activist policy need to at least acknowledge.
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Armed intervention was not the driving force.
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But he goes further, arguing that there are enough precedents to justify the claim that armed humanitarian intervention is now accepted by most states as legal.
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Widespread recognition that the situation has risen to the level of armed conflict is no talisman: It will not result in immediate intervention, nor is it likely the regime will immediately change its tactics.
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Mr Blair has grand ambitions for more intervention abroad, especially in Africa, but Britain's regular armed forces are overstretched.
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