Debating the Future of the 'Responsibility to Protect'

This study examines the relevance of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in responding to humanitarian challenges across the world. In proposing a number of revisionist alternatives, Ercan proposes a way forward for R2P, particularly regarding its Second and Third Pillars. Despite the debate shifting from a right to intervene towards a responsibility to protect, the conceptual and systemic limitations imposed on R2P via its institutionalisation have hampered its ability to consolidate change. In light of this, Ercan argues that R2P cannot make a positive contribution towards changing the international system without first being equipped with new powers.

Responsibility to protect vulnerable populations is a fundamental issue of our time and consequently Ercan's analysis on the future of R2P is a critical contribution, of interest to scholars and practitioners both. Ercan makes a valuable case on the evolution of the moral norm and reforms that could make R2P more relevant and effective. (Timea Spitka, International Affairs, Vol. 93 (1), 2017)

Autorentext
Dr Pinar Gözen Ercan is an assistant professor at the Department of International Relations of Hacettepe University, Turkey. Her primary research interests include humanitarian intervention, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), human rights, international law, and theories of International Relations. She is the author of The Territorial Sea Issue in Greek-Turkish Relations (2009).

Inhalt

1. Introduction
2. Humanitarian Intervention and the Path to R2P
3. International Law and the 'Right to Intervene'
4. Tracing the Process
5. Upholding the Responsibility?
6. The Way Forward
7. Conclusion: One's Reality, Another's Illusion