The European Parliament's contribution to the R2P debate: lessons from the Libyan and Syrian conflicts. Issue 2 (14th March 2016) - Stavridis, Stelios
Abstract : The first application of the military force element of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), whose objective is to protect populations from four specified atrocities, occurred in 2011 in Libya. Since then, and in particular in the ongoing conflict in Syria, R2P has been mentioned occasionally but not applied to date. This has led to claims that its non-application is a result of the "shadow of Libya". Over recent years, the international role of parliamentary bodies has vastly expanded, and in particular that of the European Parliament (EP) who acted as a "prime mover" for R2P over Libya in 2011. This study explains why the EP does not call for R2P implementation in the Syrian conflict. It will argue that this differentiation in fact strengthens R2P because it refers to conditions and characteristics that need to be respected if this concept is to be implemented correctly, and, more importantly, if it is to become an accepted international norm in the future.