The evolution of the responsibility to protect doctrine in the rhetoric and actions of the permanent members of the united nations security council

Humanitarian intervention has been one of the most controversial issues in international politics over the last decades; the controversy arises from the tension between the norm of state sovereignty and universal human rights. The practice of humanitarian intervention has always created doubts for those who argue that it has been undertaken for the sake of national interests of states. With a view to resolving that tension, the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty came up with the concept of the 'Responsibility to Protect' (R2P) that puts forward universal rules for the use of force in another country for protecting people whose fundamental rights are grossly violated by their own governments. However, there are still reservations about the effectiveness of R2P to halt violence in states suffering from civil war and about the intentions of states that use the doctrine of R2P to intervene militarily in another country. In order to examine the effectiveness of this doctrine, this study analyzes the rhetoric and actions of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Against the theoretical background of R2P, this study compares the attitudes of the UNSC permanent members toward the humanitarian crises before the adoption of R2P (Rwanda, Bosnia, and Kosovo) and their attitudes toward the humanitarian cases during the post-R2P period (Libya and Syria). Overall, this thesis demonstrates the failure of the new doctrine to have caused a meaningful change in the behavior of the UNSC toward protecting strangers for the sake of common humanity and the failure of the doctrine to have created a more solidarist international community that does not prioritize or protect national interests at the expense of human rights and human security. Keywords: Responsibility to Protect, Humanitarian Intervention, United Nations Security Council, Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya, Syria.