The United States and R2P: From Words to Action

Former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright and former presidential special envoy to Sudan Richard S. Williamson cochaired the Working Group on the Responsibility to Protect, which includes former government officials, academics, foreign policy experts, political consultants, and media professionals. Jointly organized by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Brookings Institution, the Working Group seeks to increase understanding of the responsibility to protect (R2P), assess how the concept has worked in relevant cases, and identify concrete steps to bolster the will and capacity of U.S. decision makers to respond in a timely manner to threats of genocide, crimes against humanity, and other mass atrocities.

This report examines R2P, the emerging political norm that aims to protect civilians from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity by preventing them from taking place or taking remedial action when necessary. R2P is based on three mutually reinforcing pillars: the duty of every state to protect its people from these crimes, a commitment of the international community to help states fulfi ll their responsibilities, and the preparedness of countries to take collective action under the UN Charter when a state manifestly fails to protect its populations.

The Brookings Institution 2013

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