Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Protecting the Unprotectable: Humanitarian Crisis and the International Community’s Kantian Responsibility to Protect in North Korea

Kruijs, Wouter LU (2010) SIMT29 20101
Department of Political Science
Master of Science in Development Studies
Graduate School
Abstract
The famine in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has once again reached a point of emergency wherein the international community has a moral duty to protect the population from their government. Although the member states of the United Nations have affirmed a global Responsibility to Protect, the ways in which that responsibility are carried out are often contradictory and help to sustain the regime – which further threatens the North Korean people. Using a Kantian code of ethics, this thesis will argue that the international community has not only a responsibility to protect, but more importantly has a duty to protect. Taking as a starting point the historical and contemporary political environment of North Korea, the thesis will... (More)
The famine in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has once again reached a point of emergency wherein the international community has a moral duty to protect the population from their government. Although the member states of the United Nations have affirmed a global Responsibility to Protect, the ways in which that responsibility are carried out are often contradictory and help to sustain the regime – which further threatens the North Korean people. Using a Kantian code of ethics, this thesis will argue that the international community has not only a responsibility to protect, but more importantly has a duty to protect. Taking as a starting point the historical and contemporary political environment of North Korea, the thesis will analyze the alternatives to the status quo in an attempt to understand how and to what extent the international aid community can best provide humanitarian assistance and uphold their Kantian Responsibility to Protect given the circumstance that the North Korean government is unwilling or unable to protect its people from a humanitarian crisis. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Kruijs, Wouter LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMT29 20101
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
North Korea, Responsibility to Protect, Kant, aid community, humanitarian crisis
language
English
id
1612226
date added to LUP
2010-06-29 11:29:33
date last changed
2014-06-10 08:56:28
@misc{1612226,
  abstract     = {{The famine in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has once again reached a point of emergency wherein the international community has a moral duty to protect the population from their government. Although the member states of the United Nations have affirmed a global Responsibility to Protect, the ways in which that responsibility are carried out are often contradictory and help to sustain the regime – which further threatens the North Korean people. Using a Kantian code of ethics, this thesis will argue that the international community has not only a responsibility to protect, but more importantly has a duty to protect. Taking as a starting point the historical and contemporary political environment of North Korea, the thesis will analyze the alternatives to the status quo in an attempt to understand how and to what extent the international aid community can best provide humanitarian assistance and uphold their Kantian Responsibility to Protect given the circumstance that the North Korean government is unwilling or unable to protect its people from a humanitarian crisis.}},
  author       = {{Kruijs, Wouter}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Protecting the Unprotectable: Humanitarian Crisis and the International Community’s Kantian Responsibility to Protect in North Korea}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}