R2P and the Use of Force

Abstract

This piece examines the place of the use of force in R2P. It shows that a sceptical view about the use of force to protect populations, a view guided by the seemingly 'endless wars' of the global 'war on terror' and the troubled legacy of intervention in Libya, has become predominant. The principle's earliest advocates went to considerable lengths to distinguish it from the bad old days of 'humanitarian intervention' in part to assuage fears and in part to burnish R2P's apparent novelty. However, experience shows that in the face of determined perpetrators force, with all the problems that entails, sometimes is necessary to protect from populations. This piece suggests the need to bring the use of force back in to debates about implementing R2P.