Implementing the Responsibility to Protect

'The grim reality of today’s crises could not be more alerting of the need to expedite implementation of the responsibility to protect. This book invites reflection and provides practical suggestions on moving beyond rhetorical and reiterated commitments to developing practical agendas for action; not only by international actors in inter-governmental fora, but also by regional and national actors at the domestic level, where the most significant potential for strengthening atrocity prevention resides. Ultimately, effective prevention requires informed, coordinated, and timely action by all those in a position to turn this noble aspiration into a solid and sustained reality.'-- Adama Dieng, Under-Secretary-General, Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide

'This book is an important and useful resource for all actors that are committed to applying atrocity prevention in practice. As we witness unimaginable atrocities in various parts of the world, policy makers have to take practical steps to implement their responsibility to protect populations from mass atrocities. Jacob and Mennecke provide much needed input to this process through a set of highly instructive essays.'-- Christian Leffler, R2P Focal Point of the European Union, Deputy-Secretary General of the EU’s European External Action Service

'This multi-disciplinary collection speaks to both critics and supporters of R2P. For the former, it provides evidence that R2P has in fact translated "words into deeds". For the latter, it demonstrates that R2P can - and must - extend beyond the United Nations to regions and national contexts, but also beyond governments to key domestic stakeholders. The book usefully points to new avenues through which R2P's objectives can be realised, given the more challenging geopolitical context in which the norm will be debated and the increasing fragmentation of conflicts and societies that heighten the risk of atrocity crimes.'-- Jennifer Welsh, Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security at McGill University, and former Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on the Responsibility to Protect

'An impressive and timely contribution to the ongoing reflection on how to translate norms and political commitments into effective actions to prevent atrocities in our changing world.'-- Judge Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, former President of the International Criminal Court and incoming Chair of the Global Action against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC)

'The timeliness of Jacob and Mennecke's book is all to stark. For those who today face bombardment in Syria, or persecution in Myanmar, the Responsibility to Protect is not an academic enterprise. Rather, it is a life-saving emerging norm, the implementation of which needs to be accelerated. Thus, the political debates and at times political theater outlined in the book will provide them with little solace. But for practitioners, this book is a necessary resource in the process of translating norms and theory into live-saving practice. Only by undertaking a frank assessment of efforts thus far, the arguments for and against R2P, and the outlining of real-world examples of how to implement R2P will be able to collectively turn rhetoric into reality and narrow the gap between expectation and the lived realities of those who face a daily risk of atrocities.'-- Naomi Kikoler, Acting Director, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

'The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is the organising principle for the international community to respond to mass atrocities inside sovereign borders. For over a decade, the United Nations has emphasized the importance of moving from the words endorsed unanimously in 2005 to deeds. This timely, important and international collection of essays addresses the protection and prevention record to date, and how the remaining implementation gaps might be filled by relevant actors and institutions.'-- Professor Emeritus Ramesh Thakur, The Australian National University

'This book by Jacob and Mennecke focuses on the uneven and imperfect reality of the implementation of the norm of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) over the past decade. At a time when 68.5 million people are displaced by persecution, conflict, and atrocities, this book examines the gap between the rapid advance of R2P as a mobilizing principle of international diplomacy, and the harsh reality of the failure to halt atrocities in Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, and elsewhere. This book offers unique and practical perspectives on how we can work together to ensure that the failures of the past are not endlessly repeated. It is a book that is committed to enhancing the policy and practice of atrocity prevention.'-- Dr Simon Adams, Executive Director, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect

'This book is a very useful tool for policymakers and practitioners; it demystifies R2P, and unpacks and situates it within our everyday life.'-- Ms Felistas Mushi, Chairperson of Tanzania’s National Committee on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and all Forms of Discrimination