Humanitarian intervention is a many layered and complex concept. While moral society has an obligation to stop deliberate and persistent serious human rights abuse, the direct use of force remains a contentious option alongside other strategies employed by the international community. This study analyzes the various ethical positions, particularly consequentialism, welfare-utilitarianism and just war theory to unravel this intricate topic. Uniquely, the book goes beyond previous philosophical or ethical treatments of the subject to provide a more rounded and practical reflection on the lessons learned from the revival of humanitarian intervention as a tool of conflict resolution.

If governments and policymakers agree on the principles of responsibility to protect (R2P), then why do they continue to ignore them and deal with violations of human rights ineffectively? 'Responsibility to Protect and Prevent: Principles, Promises and Practicalities' explores the evolution of R2P, a principle which - according to its supporters - has evolved into a new type of responsive norm for how the international community should react to serious and deliberate human rights violations. Arguing that the R2P ethos has been misunderstood and used ineffectively, this work defends the validity of R2P and urges for a more practical understanding that moves beyond theory.

The progression of R2P from an initial concept to formal ratification has been a very difficult one, with a great deal of disagreement over its validity as a substantive norm in international affairs. The disagreement is not that protection or prevention are unimportant, nor that the international community does not have at least some responsibility to try to stop extreme human rights violations. Rather, it is primarily about how the fine-sounding R2P principles are supposed to work in practice, and the utility of such principles when governments and policymakers continue to ignore the basic premise of protection.

This volume presents a number of important arguments that are directly related to the state vs. human security debate, with a critical analysis of the nexus between the protection verses prevention theses Through the case study of the Libyan Crisis, Janzekovic and Silander offer an example of the discrepancy and confusion regarding how R2P should be applied in practice, and support the claim that prevention should be more than an adjunct to protection.

This book seeks to understand the obligations of the international community to promote and protect state and human security in situations of international humanitarian crises. In Iraq and Syria, as well as in neighbouring states, the rise of ISIL has raised serious state and human security challenges. This study explores the relationships between the Global-Regional Partnership, the United Nations and nine organizations in their attempt to deal with the challenges presented by ISIL. Each organization is analyzed in terms of how it has responded in the past and how it is now responding to the ISIL threat based on three perspectives; resource capacities (military, political, economic, technological, normative); willingness and readiness; and impediments to capacity and abilities. The overall aim is to discern what capacities and abilities international organizations have to protect state and human security and prevent civilians from mass atrocities inflicted by ISIL forces. The study addresses the role of international organizations when the UNSC is unable or unwilling to uphold the most fundamental norms and values in the UN Charter. This approach acknowledges that within the international community there is an overall acceptance on security for a partnership between the UN and regional organizations, but that there is also a contested call for a renegotiated international contract on state and human security. This volume will be of much interest to students of international relations, human rights, peace and conflict studies, terrorism studies and International Relations.

This book seeks to understand the obligations of the international community to promote and protect state and human security in situations of international humanitarian crises. In Iraq and Syria, as well as in neighbouring states, the rise of ISIL has raised serious state and human security challenges. This study explores the relationships between the Global-Regional Partnership, the United Nations and nine organizations in their attempt to deal with the challenges presented by ISIL. Each organization is analyzed in terms of how it has responded in the past and how it is now responding to the ISIL threat based on three perspectives; resource capacities (military, political, economic, technological, normative); willingness and readiness; and impediments to capacity and abilities. The overall aim is to discern what capacities and abilities international organizations have to protect state and human security and prevent civilians from mass atrocities inflicted by ISIL forces. The study addresses the role of international organizations when the UNSC is unable or unwilling to uphold the most fundamental norms and values in the UN Charter. This approach acknowledges that within the international community there is an overall acceptance on security for a partnership between the UN and regional organizations, but that there is also a contested call for a renegotiated international contract on state and human security. This volume will be of much interest to students of international relations, human rights, peace and conflict studies, terrorism studies and International Relations.