Theorising the Responsibility to Protect

One of the most important developments in world politics in the last decade has been the spread of the idea that state sovereignty comes with responsibilities as well as privileges, and that there exists a global responsibility to protect people threatened by mass atrocities. The principle of the Responsibility to Protect is an acknowledgment by all who live in zones of safety of a duty of care towards those in zones of danger. Thakur and Maley argue that this principle has not been discussed sufficiently in the context of international and political theory, in particular the nature and foundations of political and international order and the strength and legitimacy of the state. The book brings together a range of authors to discuss the different ways in which the Responsibility to Protect can be theorised, using case studies to locate the idea within wider traditions of moral responsibilities in international relations.

Ramesh Thakur is Director of the Centre for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament at The Australian National University, Canberra. Formerly Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, he is editor-in-chief of Global Governance and a member of the editorial board of Global Responsibility to Protect. Among his many books are The United Nations, Peace and Security: From Collective Security to the Responsibility to Protect (Cambridge, 2006) and The Responsibility to Protect: Norms, Laws and the Use of Force in International Politics (2011).

William Maley is Professor of Diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at The Australian National University, Canberra and a member of the editorial board of Global Responsibility to Protect. He has co-edited The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan (Cambridge, 1989) and Russia in Search of its Future (Cambridge, 1995).