The Responsibility to Protect 10 years on from the World Summit: A victory for common humanity?

Abstract

Despite the rapid growth in Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) literature over the course of the first decade since the World Summit Outcome, there has been relatively little analysis on the relationship between the RtoP and Humanity. This is despite the fact that humanity is often invoked as a catalyst for RtoP action by academics and policymakers. Addressing the lacuna, this special issue puts forward an interdisciplinary investigation into the relationship between the RtoP and Humanity. To do this, it draws insight from International Relations, Political Theory, History and International Law. Contributors analyse the moral foundations of the RtoP, the relationship between ethics, politics and the RtoP, the role of humanity in a divided world, how the RtoP is framed, public opinion data on humanitarian intervention as well as media coverage of genocide. In so doing, this special issue opens up new avenues for future research as the RtoP enters its second decade since the World Summit.