Promise and pitfalls of the responsibility to protect and lessons to be learned from the case of Libya

In 2005 UN member states reached agreement on ‘the responsibility to protect’ - a principle which stipulates that each state has the primary responsibility to protect its populations from mass atrocities, and that the international community has a complementary responsibility. In 2011, the crisis in Libya represented the first case in which the international community invoked the principle in order to justify taking coercive measures - first sanctions and then the use of military force. This study analyzes the promise and pitfalls of the responsibility to protect against a historical background. Subsequently, it reconstructs and analyzes specifically how the principle has been applied in the case of Libya. Finally, the volume examines the implications of the Libyan case for the normative development and the implementation of the responsibility to protect in the future. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, including in-depth interviews with politicians, diplomats, and NGO-representatives, this study demonstrates that ultimately, the case of Libya has fully exposed the potential - as well as the complexities - inherent in the responsibility to protect.