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Arts & Culture

The Responsibility to Protect Doctrine and Its Controversial Applications

Quick fact

The Responsibility to Protect doctrine, adopted unanimously by the UN in 2005, asserts that sovereignty implies a responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity—yet it has only been invoked in a handful of crises, and its most famous use (Libya) is often cited as a cautionary tale of mission creep and regime change.

Why this is interesting

We expect nations to protect their citizens, but what happens when they don't—and other countries step in? The Responsibility to Protect doctrine says they must, yet its applications are deeply contested.