Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
1-2013
Abstract
Addressing dissent, also known as ‘rejectionism’, will broaden and deepen the global consensus on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle. However, how should scholars understand the objections raised by state critics? To answer this question, I analyse R2P opposition as presented in official UN transcripts, voting records, and resolutions. The article reveals that six related themes of dissent exist with varying degrees of emphasis amongst opponents. Conventional depictions of R2P opposition, such as the absolute sovereignty or North vs. South explanations, are therefore inadequate representations of the diverse range of arguments employed by dissenters. Ultimately, I conclude that in order to build consensus at the expense of dissent, the principle should be further developed around four key notions: 1) non-coercive prevention and domestic capacity building, 2) enhanced prudential criteria for intervention, 3) global norm entrepreneurship from the Global South, and 4) veto restraint in R2P scenarios.
Keywords
Responsibility to protect, R2P dissent, R2P rejectionism, Sovereignty, Global governance, United nations
Discipline
Political Science | Public Policy
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
Global Responsibility to Protect
Volume
5
Issue
3
First Page
260
Last Page
282
ISSN
1875-9858
Identifier
10.1163/1875984X-00503003
Publisher
Brill Academic Publishers
Citation
Patrick QUINTON-BROWN, .(2013). Mapping dissent: The responsibility to protect and its state critics. Global Responsibility to Protect, 5(3), 260-282.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3902
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1163/1875984X-00503003