Wrestling with R2P’s Colonial Parallels

Abstract

The idea of international protection of vulnerable populations has imperial roots. Scholars of international history teach us that the idea of protection was routinely invoked to justify European colonial rule and some of its brutal violence. Their scholarship makes for sobering reading for anyone advocating international efforts to protect vulnerable people today. In this roundtable contribution, I describe how I have wrestled with R2P’s colonial parallels in my recent book, Sharing Responsibility: The History and Future of Protection from Atrocities.