Beyond the ‘Salvation’ Paradigm: Responsibility To Protect (Others) vs the Power of Protecting Oneself

Abstract

The emergence of the idea of a ‘responsibility to protect’ has dominated debates about what should be done to stop atrocities. I argue that, despite notable progress, R2P remains embedded in a vision of ‘international’ rescue as primarily coming from outside, and as such ends up neglecting the very real and often much more decisive role that ‘people’ — individuals, civil society, resistance movements — have had in protecting themselves. I argue for a rehabilitation of the role of resistance to atrocities, a better understanding of how the international intervention paradigm may affect it, and a new understanding of the proper role of the international community — one of helping people to help themselves in the face of massive violence.