The Doctrine of "Responsibility to Protect" and the EU Stance: Critical Appraisal

In: Studia diplomatica: Brussels journal of international relations, Band 59, Heft 1, S. 69-82

Abstract

In this reprint of a chapter from Giovanna Bono's book The Impact of 11 September 2001 & the "War on Terror" on European Foreign & Security Policy (2006), the author challenges the assumption that the "responsibility to protect" (R2P) is emerging as a legal norm in international relations, but rather the debate is fraught with misunderstandings & hidden agendas. Demonstration that the principle is barely a political commitment assesses the International Commission on Intervention & State Sovereignty (ICISS) & the UN World Summit of September 2005 to identify a lack of political commitment & will, & that no consensus has been achieved on fully legal grounds. Analysis of the position of the EU toward R2P supports the argument that the normative identity of EU security & defense policy better equips the EU to implement R2P, although the EU has never pledged support for a unilateral right to intervene. The partial success of the R2P is concluded to be related to the UN members hold on the sovereignty principles, the ideological changes occurring at the international stage, & the overlooking by academics of the role of power. References. J. Harwell