Humanitarian Intervention: A look at Rwanda, Srebrenica and the Responsibility to Protect

Abstract

This essay looks at the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty’s The Responsibility to Protect, a new report attempting to create a successful policy for humanitarian intervention. The pertinent question addressed in this analysis is whether or not this report could have prevented tragedies such as Rwanda and Srebrenica. I first analyze The Responsibility to Protect, examining the elements that distinguish it from past intervention policies. I will then look at what historically happened during two conflicts; Rwanda and Srebrenica, and continue with an examination of the reasons behind their failure. This essay will present the Responsibility to Protect as a relatively well-explained and representative policy idea, with its fundamental flaw being that it does not address the underlying problems existing at the heart of these catastrophes. The root causes explored here include a lack of state political interest, a lack of financial aid from wealthy countries, error, as well as inaction from the UN, its branches and many of its member states.