Eki Omorogbe on R2P, Syrian deadlock, and alternatives
On the deadlock over Syria: “This in my mind takes us back to the 1990s: Rwanda, Srebrenica, Kosovo.. Unless we are willing to act illegally but legitimately, then the people will be at risk. And I think that crucial limitation – the inability to take action unless the Security Council authorizes intervention is a problem for R2P. Perhaps we need to look at empowering regional organizations to take action or perhaps the UN General Assembly under the Uniting for Peace Resolution (1950).”
Eki Omorogbe (Lecturer in International Law at the University of Leicester) describes the development of the Responsibility to Protect-norm, and lists some of the problems with implementing R2P. She also addresses the critique that R2P has little to offer in cases such as the Syrian civil war, and offers that regional organizations and the UN General Assembly could be given more power to take military action.
On 2 July 2014, Eki Omorogbe was interviewed by Josefine Ulbrich at the conference ‘Transatlantic Dialogue on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)’ hosted by The Hague Institute for Global Justice.
