R2P: The Next Decade

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has evolved steadily since its first articulation by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in 2001 and its political adoption at the 2005 World Summit. Recent global events—both ongoing and unanticipated—have drawn mass atrocity threats into even sharper focus, mobilized novel approaches, and raised important questions about how political commitment should be translated into concrete policies that prevent and halt atrocity violence.

On January 18, 2012, the Stanley Center, in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the MacArthur Foundation, convened figures critical to the historical and contemporary evolution of the Responsibility to Protect to assess the current state of the principle and consider the evolving global dynamics that will frame, drive, and challenge policy development in the years ahead.

The event’s more than 200 participants included United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; members of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty; key international, regional, and national officials; academic and policy experts; civil society figures; and journalists.

This policy memo outlines the critical tasks identified by the discussion as R2P moves from political principle to policy framework in the coming decade.