The Evolution of the Responsibility to Protect

This article traces the evolution of the responsibility to protect. It presents the operationalization of the concept in the United Nations and how the concept has been used in practice. In its conceptualization in the United Nations, the concept first refers to the states’ responsibility to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. However, the distinctiveness of the concept comes from putting forward the international community’s responsibility to protect in case a state manifestly fails to protect its population. Although a consensus exists on the states’ responsibility to protect their populations, the international community’s responsibility to react in cases of manifest state failure to protect their populations found limited support