Lord Toad - I think what you are alluding to (in politically incorrect speak) is "The White Man's Burden". A throw-over of guilt from slavery and the legacy of Empire........
We're dammed if we do, and dammed if we don't. This leads to the desire to intervene everywhere to "right" the wrongs of earlier foreign policy mistakes. We feel it more as Brits but France, Belgium, Italy etc. still find it hard to leave their former colonial empire alone.
You only have to look at the multitude of ethnic populations resident in countries such as France, the Netherlands and Spain (not to mention the UK) to see what I mean. Not an easy problem to solve but neither we, nor our European neighbours, can provide a safe haven to the people displaced by internal disputes, civil wars and revolution - even in nations that border Europe.
If we feel that we can't ignore the injustices of the world around us, the only option is to try any help protect them in situ which UN resolution 1973 is all about.
IMHO, it's time for the UK to shed its historic legacy of Empire and interfere less on the world stage and not feel guilty any more about the past. Let the Arab world sort it own problems out for itself.
There's only one problem though - we still need their OIL.
MB