Publication

This report examines 1) the degree to which states have accepted the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, and 2) the controversies surrounding its application since the UN General Assembly embraced the principle in 2005. More specifically, the report’s author examines the contentious debates over R2P at the UN, particularly over the norms it embodies; the application of R2P in a number of crisis situations, including Libya (2011), the Ivory Coast (2011) and the ongoing Syrian Civil War; and the prospects of refining R2P into an actual working doctrine. After analyzing the above issues and disputes, the author concludes that the disagreements over R2P, both in terms of its principles and application, are precisely what has kept it alive and enabled it to evolve.