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Responsibility to Protect in Libya and Syria: The R2P Discourse within the UN Security Council

Chiesa, André LU (2015) STVM20 20151
Department of Political Science
Abstract (Swedish)
The past five years, Northern Africa and the Middle East have been characterized
by revolutions and civil wars. Today, we can see two major civil wars raging in
the region, one in Libya and another in Syria. In 2011, the UN Security Council
(UNSC) passed resolutions that would ultimately lead to a military intervention in
Libya, with the purpose to protect civilians from the regime. This intervention was
legitimized by invoking R2P (Responsibility to Protect) and since then, R2P has
been a reoccurring subject within the UNSC. R2P has both theoretical and
practical implications within the scope of international relations, the latter being
demonstrated by the intervention in Libya. In this paper, I have analyzed the R2P
discourse... (More)
The past five years, Northern Africa and the Middle East have been characterized
by revolutions and civil wars. Today, we can see two major civil wars raging in
the region, one in Libya and another in Syria. In 2011, the UN Security Council
(UNSC) passed resolutions that would ultimately lead to a military intervention in
Libya, with the purpose to protect civilians from the regime. This intervention was
legitimized by invoking R2P (Responsibility to Protect) and since then, R2P has
been a reoccurring subject within the UNSC. R2P has both theoretical and
practical implications within the scope of international relations, the latter being
demonstrated by the intervention in Libya. In this paper, I have analyzed the R2P
discourse within the UNSC and how it differs between the issue of the Libyan
civil war and the civil war in Syria. By analyzing meeting records from the
UNSC, I will show that the discourse itself has changed, but that the lack of
intervention in Syria, within the R2P paradigm, is mostly a result of a ‘cold war’
discourse between the Western member states on one side, and China and Russia
on the other. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Chiesa, André LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVM20 20151
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Discourse, Libya, R2P, Syria, UN Security Council
language
English
id
5425969
date added to LUP
2015-07-13 11:51:34
date last changed
2015-07-13 11:51:34
@misc{5425969,
  abstract     = {{The past five years, Northern Africa and the Middle East have been characterized
by revolutions and civil wars. Today, we can see two major civil wars raging in
the region, one in Libya and another in Syria. In 2011, the UN Security Council
(UNSC) passed resolutions that would ultimately lead to a military intervention in
Libya, with the purpose to protect civilians from the regime. This intervention was
legitimized by invoking R2P (Responsibility to Protect) and since then, R2P has
been a reoccurring subject within the UNSC. R2P has both theoretical and
practical implications within the scope of international relations, the latter being
demonstrated by the intervention in Libya. In this paper, I have analyzed the R2P
discourse within the UNSC and how it differs between the issue of the Libyan
civil war and the civil war in Syria. By analyzing meeting records from the
UNSC, I will show that the discourse itself has changed, but that the lack of
intervention in Syria, within the R2P paradigm, is mostly a result of a ‘cold war’
discourse between the Western member states on one side, and China and Russia
on the other.}},
  author       = {{Chiesa, André}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Responsibility to Protect in Libya and Syria: The R2P Discourse within the UN Security Council}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}