Humanitarian Intervention and the "Responsibility to Protect"

Panel discussion with David Hollenbach, SJ, Boston College, Mahmood Mamdani, Columbia University, and Alan Wolfe, Boston College

From September 16, 2010

What is the world to do when a particular government cannot, or will not, stop large-scale violence and human rights abuses within its borders? What if the state itself is the source of this violence? For the past twenty years "humanitarian intervention" has been the key concept in the debate over international military action to stop such violence within a state. But a new concept called "the responsibility to protect" is gaining ground in the world community, seeking to reframe the debate on state sovereignty and the warrants for military intervention. Join our panel of distinguished scholars as they consider the implications of the "R2P" paradigm for U.S. foreign policy and the international community.