Millions of children around the world are affected by conflict, and the enduring aftermath of war in post-conflict societies. This book reflects on the implications of children's insecurity for governments and the international humanitarian community by drawing on original field research in post-conflict Cambodia and in Burma's eastern conflict zones. The book examines the way that politics and discourses of security and child protection have further marginalised rather than enhanced the protection of children. In Cambodia, threats from trafficking, exploitative labour, and high levels of domestic and social violence challenge the government and the international humanitarian community to respond to the new human security terrain that is the legacy of three decades of political violence. Burma has endured over 60 years of insurgency and civil conflict in ethnic minority states, significantly affecting children who are recruited into armies, killed, maimed or tortured, and displaced. Analysing the theoretical and practical challenges faced in addressing children's security in global politics, the book offers a novel framework for responding to the politics of protection that is at the heart of this crucial issue. It is a useful contribution to studies on Asian Politics and International Relations and Security.

This book examines core thematic approaches to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and analyzes case studies regarding the implementation of this important global norm. The volume analyzes this process at international, regional and local levels, and identifies an urgent need to progress from conceptual debates towards implementation in practice, in order to understand how to operationalize the preventive dimension of the R2P. It argues that R2P implementation necessarily entails the efforts of actors across governance levels, and that it is more effective when integrated into existing sites of practice aimed at strengthening human rights and accountability for populations in atrocity risk situations. The book addresses R2P implementation in the context of agendas such as resilience, gender, development cooperation, human rights, transitional justice, peacekeeping and civil-military relations. It details progress and challenges for implementation in the United Nations, regionally in Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia, and through national atrocity prevention architectures. The volume provides readers with a breadth of understanding in terms of both the development and current status of the R2P norm, and practical tools for advancing its implementation. This book will be of much interest to students of the Responsibility to Protect, Human Rights, Peace Studies, and International Relations in general.

This book examines core thematic approaches to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and analyzes case studies regarding the implementation of this important global norm. The volume analyzes this process at international, regional and local levels, and identifies an urgent need to progress from conceptual debates towards implementation in practice, in order to understand how to operationalize the preventive dimension of the R2P. It argues that R2P implementation necessarily entails the efforts of actors across governance levels, and that it is more effective when integrated into existing sites of practice aimed at strengthening human rights and accountability for populations in atrocity risk situations. The book addresses R2P implementation in the context of agendas such as resilience, gender, development cooperation, human rights, transitional justice, peacekeeping and civil-military relations. It details progress and challenges for implementation in the United Nations, regionally in Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia, and through national atrocity prevention architectures. The volume provides readers with a breadth of understanding in terms of both the development and current status of the R2P norm, and practical tools for advancing its implementation. This book will be of much interest to students of the Responsibility to Protect, Human Rights, Peace Studies, and International Relations in general.

There has been a significant consolidation of international norms to advance human protection objectives in current global politics. Yet, while civilian protection is at the heart of international humanitarian law and the United Nations global security agenda, armed conflicts today are increasingly fragmented. The current global security environment creates significant ethical and political complexities for the actors operating in this field to protect civilians. This volume interrogates the diversity of practices and the politics of civilian protection at the individual and community as well as the state, non-state, and the international community levels to conceptualize civilian protection in this complex environment. The book comprises thematic chapters on humanitarian intervention, protection of populations of concern including refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), and international diplomacy, which are enriched with six case studies from Asia and Africa. Combining conceptual debate with empirical evidence, the contributors describe the contexts in which interventions occur and the practical ways in which protection mechanisms have been implemented. This volume offers alternatives that can be adopted to improve and build upon current practices of civilian protection.