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The Responsibility to Protect as the Apotheosis of Liberal Teleology

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Libya, the Responsibility to Protect and the Future of Humanitarian Intervention

Abstract

Since it was recognized at the 2005 World Summit, states have routinely expressed their support for the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). The fact that it merely restates existing law, however, means that the utility of R2P is essentially predicated on its capacity to precipitate, either though socialization, inducement or mild coercion — such as rhetorical entrapment and/or a determination to avoid pariah status — a profound attitudinal change amongst states. As a result, R2P’s advocates — academics, NGOs and political figures — have focused on stressing its alleged normative power; its ostensible capacity to ‘shame’ otherwise recalcitrant states by portraying non-compliance as anachronistic and reactionary.

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  1. Aidan Hehir
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Westminster, UK

    Aidan Hehir

  2. University of Alberta, Canada

    Robert Murray

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© 2013 Aidan Hehir

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Hehir, A. (2013). The Responsibility to Protect as the Apotheosis of Liberal Teleology. In: Hehir, A., Murray, R. (eds) Libya, the Responsibility to Protect and the Future of Humanitarian Intervention. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137273956_3

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