| The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and for All |  | Author: Gareth Evans
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Category: Book
List Price: $36.95
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Seller: harvestbooks
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 857,752
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 349
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0815725043
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.34
EAN: 9780815725046
ASIN: 0815725043
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
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Product Description
After the Holocaust, the world vowed it would never again stand by and permit such heinous crimes against humanity. Yet many subsequent atrocities have gone unchecked, all over the world: from the killing fields of Cambodia, to Rwanda, and to Srebrenica. The bloody list continues to grow, led by the unfolding nightmare in Darfur. How and why were the world's best intentions derailed, and what can be done today to put these efforts back on track? The "responsibility to protect: - R2P for short - was unanimously embraced at the UN World Summit in 2005. The heart of this new international norm is the belief that if sovereign governments fail to protect their own people from mass atrocity crimes, then responsibility shifts to the wider international community to take whatever action is appropriate, including (in extreme cases) the use of force. The world cannot, and will not, just stand by. Evens spells out the steps needed to make R2P work in practice and clarifies the misunderstandings, real or contrived, which persist about its scope and limits. He emphasizes the need for preventive action, and for preferring assistance and persuasion to coercion, but he also makes clear when it is right to fight. The book is enlivened throughout by real world examples, analyses of current events, and assessments drawn from the author's own vast experience.
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A must-read if you believe in our common humanity February 13, 2009
Wolfgang A. Schmidt (Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Review of Gareth Evans' book The Responsibility to Protect
This clearly written book is a must-read if you believe in our common humanity and are interested in human rights and international affairs. The author takes the reader on a journey to the cutting edge of contemporary human-rights thinking and into the evolution of a new concept that, if realized, will save countless lives by preventing or ending mass atrocity crimes.
He lays out the case why governments share in a Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and how they all came to accept it - at least in principle - during the 2005 United Nations World Summit. This accomplishment is nothing short of miraculous given the relatively brief period of incubation during which the concept matured and managed to gain acceptance. It is all the more astounding since it adds an interpretation to the notion of national sovereignty, the most sacred of sacred cows behind which governments like to hide in order to shield themselves from accountability for actions and inaction alike.
In the past, turning a blind eye in the event of impending or ongoing mass atrocities seemed to be the default answer of the international community more often than not. This attitude was based, among other things, on a not so tacit consensus that sovereignty ultimately always trumps humanity. Now, however, by affirming their agreement with this new concept, the international community seems to be accepting that this solemn responsibility shifts from the national to the international plane in the event of a government's incapacity or unwillingness to meet its inherent responsibility to protect its own citizens.
The book is more than just the inside story, fascinating as it is, of how this all came about. In this sense it could only have been written by someone like Gareth Evans, who himself played a leading role in formulating and promoting the concept of the Responsibility to Protect. His book provides a comprehensive framework of strategies and tools to choose from before, during and after a crisis. It discusses a wide range of measures from the cooperative to the coercive that may be taken to enable or induce a government to change a situation.
Apart from being an excellent overview of the history, content and status of R2P and a veritable gold mine of information about the institutions and individuals involved, "The Responsibility to Protect" is a book of hope. It leaves the reader hopeful that R2P, while taking its due place in the history of ideas, will evolve into a strong international norm, despite the formidable obstacles its implementation will continue to encounter.
Hope also springs from the fact that a few determined individuals, dedicated to the cause of humanity and supported by a few sympathetic institutions, can have a huge impact and make an invaluable contribution to saving humankind from the insanity of repeating its most blood-soaked history. In this respect the book is a wake-up call and rallying cry for the rest of us to support those valiant efforts with all the means at our disposal.
Something that Can No Longer Be Ignored August 30, 2009
Robert R. Kudyba
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mass atrocity crimes have been part of human history for many, many years. After the experiences of the Second World War, the world had vowed never again. Unfortunately despite that pledge, it was not able to live up to it, with various mass atrocity crimes occurring around the world until just recently. Mass atrocity crimes such as the Rwandan genocide have shaken the world into action. One of the main blockages to intervention has been the uncertainty due to the notion of state sovereignty.
After the various experiences of mass atrocity crimes in recent times, the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, made this matter an issue at the 2000 Millenium meeting of the UN General Assembly. The cause has gained momentum since then.
Former Australian Foreign Minister and recently retired Chairman of the International Crisis Group, Gareth Evans, has also taken up the cause of the question of the responsibility to protect, or R2P as it is commonly known.
This book examines R2P in the context of intervening when the rule of law collapses and innocent people are left to the mercies of various factions and non-state armed actors; some of whom become extremely violent and hostile to various ethnic groups. The book also contains many personal glimpses at various key players in R2P, experiences in dealing with the steadfast determination of those people to see that something positive would emerge from these initiatives and the need to intervene in another state's sovereign territory in order to protect the innocent.
An extremely well written and researched book, which contains a great deal of background information on the subject and various leading personalities who worked to overcome what was sometimes perceived as something too hard. The book is well referenced and extremely useful to the student or researcher of international relations, international law, human security and the workings of the United Nations in this matter. Well done Gareth Evans, good on you...!
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