First World efforts to provide aid and military intervention to developing nations are not without their dangers. In 1993, American troops were sent to Somalia to rescue the nation from problems caused by drought and feuding warlords. The two-year mission was unsuccessful and deadly—forty-two American soldiers died, including eighteen U.S. Army Rangers who perished in a 1993 firefight with warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid’s troops. These and other fatalities have sparked debate over whether military intervention in Third World countries is a prudent action for developed countries to take.

Some analysts question the necessity of armed intervention, arguing that its goals are often misguided. Anna Simons, the associate director of African studies at UCLA, asserts that the problem with intervention is that it requires the intervening nation to choose sides. According to Simons...