Incomplete and Imperfect Institutionalisation of Empathy and Altruism in the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ Doctrine

This paper argues the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine institutionalised empathy and altruism, however incompletely and imperfectly, and began a transformation of the UN Security Council’s ‘organisational responsibility’ by shifting the organisation’s moral frame of reference from state to individual security. Second, the twin dangers associated with the misuse of the R2P doctrine—namely paternalistic interventions or the cynical use of R2P language and reasoning to justify interventions taken primarily to promote the interests of the interveners – can be ameliorated by even greater institutionalisation of empathy, a process that is already underway.