Responsibility to protect

Can anything ever justify the military invasion of another state in order to prevent the violation on a massive scale of fundamental human rights where the state affected is either unable or unwilling to do so itself? This question has been at the top of the international agenda ever since NATO’s so-called Kosovo war and the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi. This raises many other compelling questions as well: Is anyone in a position to do so at liberty to suppress the violation of human rights using military means? Would this include security companies, or is it confined to just states? Is a United Nations mandate an absolute must? Which means can be taken to be appropriate? What if military intervention will unavoidably cause the deaths of innocent people? Does introducing the right of military intervention as an instrument designed to prevent the violation of human rights not boil down to a softening of the generally-held assessment of war as something that is valueless and should not be?

Responsible for this project: Prof. Dr. Gerhard Beestermöller, Assistant Director
Email: beestermoeller@ithf.de
Telephone: +49 (0)40 / 67 08 59-21

in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Michael Staack
Helmut-Schmidt-Universität, Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg (Helmut Schmidt University, University of the German Armed Forces Hamburg)