Reflection on R2P@15: growing pains, progress and prospects.

15 years after the institutionalization of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) at 2005 World Summit, it is an apt moment to take stock of R2P’s development from its endorsement at the World Summit to its status as present in a global context marked by a mix of political and normative currents and developments.

The principle of R2P stipulates that the international community has a responsibility to protect people from crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide. It’s endorsement was a watershed moment for the collective will to address mass atrocities and to operationalize the mantra of ‘never again’ with reference to conscience-shocking events in Rwanda, Srebrenica and Cambodia, among other cases.