In some cases, even if motives are mixed, the prospects of success are reasonable, and the misery of a population can be relieved at modest expense. Military interventions in Sierra Leone, Liberia, East Timor, and Bosnia did not solve all problems, but they did improve the lives of the people there.
此外，谨慎并不意味着人道主义干涉经常会遭到失败。在一些事件中，即便存在各种动机，取得成功的预期却是有望实现的。对塞拉利昂、利比亚、东帝汶和波斯尼亚的军事干涉并未一次解决所有问题，但却改善了该地人民的生活。其他干涉——比如在索马里——却没有取得这样的效果。