There’s a lot of talk going around about the possibility of intervention in Syria. Erica Chenoweth dug up a research study that looked at what effect that would have on civilian killings:

• According to one study when external actors intervene on the side of rebels during a conflict, government killings of civilians increases by 40%.
• This is in part because a foreign military intervention normally weakens the government, making non-violent efforts at suppression less effective. The government then resorts to more violent tactics.
• If despite this a humanitarian intervention is still deemed to be justifiable then interveners should alter their strategies to focus on explicitly protecting civilians.

Read more here.

Source: The Monkey Cage

Via: Marginal Revolution