Though postponed, the US still threatens to attack Syria to punish the Assad government for the use of chemical weapons. But it would be illegal, and ineffective - helping neither the people of Syria, nor the principles of Responsibility to Protect (R2P). A contribution to the openGlobalRights deb
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine has failed to build an international consensus for action to protect civilians in Syria. Worse, R2P’s implicit support for military action without UN authorization has contributed to the UN’s paralysis. A contribution to the openGlobalRights debate, R2P
Syria shows the difficulty of translating Responsibility to Protect (R2P) into action, but we must if R2P is to be more than a fancy acronym. But any military intervention must be linked to dialogue towards a political solution, and if such action proceeds without UN authorization it risks further
Opposing military intervention in Syria is not support for the brutal Assad regime. The BRICS countries can rely on strong legal and political reasons against such intervention; the Responsibility to Protect language is easily manipulated. Prudent internationalism is the better way – supporting ne
Responsibility to Protect (R2P): Renewal and reaffirmation - or rejection of a troubled doctrine? A contribution to the openGlobalRights debate, R2P and the Human Rights Crisis in Syria.
The world’s failure to respond effectively to ongoing atrocities in Syria may mean Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is down, but it’s not out. R2P still offers a principled approach to react to a chemical weapons atrocity in the face of likely Security Council vetoes. A contribution to the openGlob
While the region slips further into instability, the rejection of military action over Syria by the US Congress would be a huge stepping stone to undoing the US and western way of war since 9/11.
If the US decides to unilaterally attack Syria, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s recent observations on the subject will be fulfilled: "If any country attacks another when it wants, that is like the Middle Ages."
Regardless of how ‘surgical’ strikes are claimed to be, military action is a blunt instrument that, in this case, is on the table merely because of a poverty of alternatives.
