The Responsibility to Protect

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 5 explores Kofi Annan’s approach to the issue of humanitarian intervention, and his idea of two sovereignties—of states and of people. His conviction that sovereignty was not absolute but contingent, and was vested in a state’s citizenry, not just in the state itself, is central to understanding his Secretary-Generalship. He produced a UN Action Plan to Prevent Genocide and supported the establishment of the International Criminal Court. As a norm entrepreneur, he challenged member states to find a consensus on the vital issue of the international community’s responsibility in the face of mass atrocities. At the 2005 World Summit, all member states unanimously accepted their Responsibility to Protect civilians from four types of mass atrocity crimes: genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.