The soviet Union also urged protection of sovereignty in regard to military intrusions by the Western powers into third world states. In the early twentieth century, gunboat diplomacy had been the practice. In 1902, British, German, and Italian warships blockaded Venezuela and shelled its coast after Venezuela failed to pay damage claims to foreign nationals. The United States occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934 to manage its financial affairs.

The Cold War created a dilemma for the West, and particularly for the United States, in regard to the international rules on use of force. The United States sought on occasion to use military force against governments, or potential governments, that might ally with the Soviet Union. The USSR, to be sure, faced the same dilemma. On occasion, it, too, tried military force, though less frequently than the United States, to ensure a government would be on its side in the Cold War. It intervened in Hungary in 1956 and again in Czechoslovakia in 1968.

It was the United States, however, that intervened most frequently during the Cold War. The Soviet government dogged it relentlessly in the UN Security Council. The United States either denied involvement or acknowledged the action and sought to justify it, typically on the ground of protecting its nationals. The Soviet Union accused the United States of violating its commitment to the international rules enshrined in the UN Charter. It insisted on respect for territorial sovereignty.

The UN Charter had imposed strict limits on military intervention.