... Life, liberty, and property; Enlightenment thinkers coined these terms as representing natural, or inalienable rights, rights which all humans are born with. The writers of the American constitution adopted this phrase as "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" the "pursuit of happiness" being a rather vague term. Such atrocious crimes as rape, murder, genocide and ethnic cleansing are considered crimes against humanity by the majority of states, but they cannot be portrayed as the sole basis for justifying a case for more substantial Western intervention in Bosnia. What has to be taken into account is that states, the most important players on the political checkerboard, are motivated by self-interest; self interest trumps moral obligation. Realists present the notion that states are autonomous, sovereign units which rationally pursue self-interest. States are rational, and human nature is pessimistic. Davis Rieff's argument is based on assumptions which would have held in a ...

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