Between Intervention and Responsibility: Institutionalizing the responsibility to protect as an active international law doctrine

This research paper will explore the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine in detail by considering the case studies of Libya, Rwanda, and Gaza. First, this paper will begin by defining the legal construct of the R2P along its three pillars and chart out the historical reasons for moving beyond the language of “humanitarian intervention” towards an idiom of “responsibility”. Second, I will comment on the flaws of the current R2P mechanism and how the political disinclination towards avoiding these deficiencies have robbed the doctrine of any authoritative vigour. Finally, arguing for a future where we would rather have the R2P than discard it altogether, this paper ends by offering the outlines of a detailed standard operating procedure and accountability protocol to improve the interventionary value of this nascent tool of peace in international law.