The Responsibility to Protect at 10: The Challenge of Protecting the World's Most Vulnerable Populations
March 8-9, 2015
The Responsibility to Protect principle, adopted by leaders across the globe in 2005, recognizes that the international community has a role to play when sovereign states fail to protect their own populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. As R2P reached its ten-year milestone, many questions remained about the principle's legitimacy, implementation and potential abuse. This conference brought together leading scholars and global actors to share ideas and experiences about both philosophical and practical aspects of R2P. Thematic sessions included: "R2P: Ethical Considerations;" "New Actors and Vulnerable Populations;" "The International Arena;" "Implementation of R2P: Practical Challenges;" " R2P in the Real World" (a double panel with presentations on Kosovo, Somalia, North Korea, Syria, Iraq, and the Central African Republic); and "Justice and Accountability." The conference ended with a plenary discussion focused on "The Future of R2P and Global Governance."
View the full program, related resources, conference speakers and organizers, and conference papers (available upon request).
"The Responsibility to Protect at 10" was free and open to the public. It was organized jointly by the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life and the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University.