Abstract
The doctrine of the responsibility to protect (RtoP) the civilian population against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity was established in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the “Outcome Document” of the 2005 World Summit, which was held in New York between September 14 and 16, 2005. It was reaffirmed in April 2006 by the UN Security Council through Resolution 1674. This doctrine—RtoP—consists in not recognizing national sovereignty as a right, but as a responsibility to prevent and deter four crimes—genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing—under the generic term Mass Atrocity Crimes.
The initiative came from Canada, reflecting the broad interests that created and guided the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICSS) in Ottawa, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Simons, Rockefeller, William & Flora Hewlett and Catherine T. McArthur foundations. This commission was tasked with formulating the Responsibility to Protect Report in order to substantiate the RtoP and R2P (Responsibility to Protect) and the “right of humanitarian intervention” doctrines because of the existing controversies since the interventions in Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as in Rwanda, where such an intervention could not be carried out.
This responsibility to protect (RtoP and R2P) doctrine is based on the principle that sovereignty is not a right, but a privilege, and that if a State violates the tenets of good governance, the international community (the United States and its NATO vassals) is morally obliged to revoke the sovereignty of the nation and assume command and control of the offending state. It’s quite obvious that this principle seeks to pulverem oculis effundere, i.e., throw dust in the eyes. Because in practice, it can only be applied by the major powers against the weaker nations, who have no power to defend themselves or retaliate. And the objective conclusion is that all states should arm themselves as much as possible, including with nuclear artifacts.
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Notes
- 1.
Acta Pacis Westphalicae, Supplementa electronica, 1, accessed http://www.pax-westphalica.de/.
- 2.
Henry A. Kissinger, “Syrian intervention risks upsetting global order”, The Washington Post, June 2, 2012.
- 3.
William Pfaff, “Empire isn’t the American way — Addiction in Washington”, International Herald Tribune, 4/9/2002.
- 4.
- 5.
Barbosa (1966), p. 256 and 369. The speeches were given in French.
- 6.
Münkler (2005).
- 7.
Hilferding (1968), p. 457.
- 8.
Kissinger (2011), p. 454.
- 9.
Sousa Lara (2011), p. 41.
- 10.
Ibid., p. 459.
- 11.
Ibid., p. 459.
- 12.
Arno Mayer, “Untimely Reflections”, Theory & Event, Volume 5, Issue 4, Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
- 13.
Hobbes (2002), p. 190.
- 14.
Strength is the enemy of law and strength is repelled by strength.
- 15.
Sensini (2011), p. 75.
- 16.
The Responsibility to Protect—Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, December 2001. The members of the Committee were Gareth Evans (President), Mohamed Sahnoun (Vice President), Gisèle Côté-Harper, Lee Hamilton, Michael Ignatieff, Vladimir Lukin, Klaus Naumann, Cyril Ramaphosa, Fidel Ramos, Cornelio Sommaruga, Eduardo Stein, Ramesh Thakur.
- 17.
Principles of International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nürnberg Tribunal and in the Judgment of the Tribunal 1950—Copyright © United Nations—2005—Text adopted by the International Law Commission at its second session, in 1950 and submitted to the General Assembly as a part of the Commission’s report covering the work of that session. The report, which also contains commentaries on the principles, appears in Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1950, vol. II, § 97.
- 18.
Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (as corrected by the procés-verbaux of 10 November 1998 and 12 July 1999), Part 2, Jurisdiction, Admissibility And Applicable Law—Article 5—Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.
- 19.
Plato (2000), Book I, p. 12–13.
- 20.
Maia (2012), p. 197.
- 21.
Charlie Savage, “2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate”, The New York Times, June 17, 2011.
- 22.
Richard N. Haass, “Libya Now Needs Boots on the Ground”, Financial Times, August 22, 2011.
- 23.
Weber (1988), vol. 1, p. 35.
- 24.
Moliére (1862), p. 72.
- 25.
Jimmy Carter, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights Remarks at a White House Meeting Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Declaration’s Signing”, December 6, 1978.
- 26.
Hobson (1975), p. 74–79.
- 27.
Ibid., p. 77.
- 28.
Patouillet (1904), p. 162–165.
- 29.
Ibid., p. 163–164.
- 30.
Ibid., p. 273.
- 31.
107th Congress H. J. Res. 114—To authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq.
- 32.
Then Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, appeared before the UN Security Council on February 5, 2003 and showed satellite images, transcripts of intercepted phone conversations and other intelligence reports as “solid” evidence that Iraq had not complied with the UN resolution determining its disarmament. “My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources.” “Powell presents US case to Security Council of Iraq’s failure to disarm”, UN News Centre—UN News Service. Subsequently, Colin Powell had to acknowledge himself that Saddam Hussein no longer possessed such weapons when the war was unleashed. Peter Slevin, “Powell Voices Doubts about Iraqi Weapons”, The Washington Post, 25/1/2004, p. A14.
- 33.
Paine (1996), p. 58.
- 34.
Woods Jr. and Gutzman (2008), p. 202.
- 35.
Gramsci (2000), p. 299.
- 36.
Lassalle (1991), p. 86–87, 94–100, 106–115.
- 37.
Tocqueville (1968), p. 157.
- 38.
Novak (1974), p. 3.
- 39.
Ibid., p. 15.
- 40.
Woods Jr. and Gutzman (2008), p. 183.
- 41.
War Powers Resolution—Joint Resolution Concerning the War Powers of Congress and the President. 2008 Lillian Goldman Law Library—Yale Law Library, accessed http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/warpower.asp
- 42.
Remarks by the President to Parliament in London, United Kingdom—Westminster Hall, London, United Kingdom. The White House—Office of the Press Secretary—For Immediate Release May 25, 2011 3:47 P.M. BST.
- 43.
Ibid.
- 44.
In a memorandum dated August 4, 2011, President Barack Obama signed the principle that preventing “mass atrocities and genocide” lay at the heart of American national security and moral responsibility. Presidential Study Directive on Mass Atrocities (Presidential Study Directive/Psd-10), The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, August 4, 2011.
- 45.
Remarks by the President to Parliament in London, United Kingdom—Westminster Hall, London, United Kingdom. The White House—Office of the Press Secretary—For Immediate Release May 25, 2011 3:47 P.M. BST.
- 46.
President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address, USA Today, 25/1/2012.
- 47.
Henry A. Kissinger, “A new doctrine of intervention?”, Washington Post, March 31, 2012.
- 48.
Ibid.
- 49.
Ibid.
- 50.
Henry A. Kissinger, “Syrian intervention risks upsetting global order”, The Washington Post, June 2, 2012.
- 51.
“A um ano da invasão da Líbia: pobreza, divisão e morte”, Diário da Liberdade (Galiza), 3/4/2012.
- 52.
“Article 5. The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.” The North Atlantic Treaty, Washington D.C., April 4, 1949.
- 53.
Mark Townsend and Tariq Abdinasir, “Britain leads dash to explore for oil in war-torn Somalia. Government offers humanitarian aid and security assistance in the hope of a stake in country’s future energy industry”, The Guardian, February 25, 2012.
- 54.
Foreign & Commonwealth Office, February 23, 2012, Full text of the Communique from the London Conference on Somalia at Lancaster House on 23 February, accessed http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=PressS&id=727,627,582.
- 55.
NATO 2020: Assured Security; Dynamic Engagement, Analysis and Recommendations of the Group of Experts on a New Strategic Concept for NATO, May 17, 2010, accessed http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_63654.htm.
- 56.
“Because of its visibility and power, NATO may well be called upon to respond to challenges that do not directly affect its security but that still matter to its citizens and that will contribute to the Alliance’s international standing. These challenges could include the humanitarian consequences of a failed state, the devastation caused by a natural disaster, or the dangers posed by genocide or other massive violations of human rights.” Ibid.
- 57.
Pedro Seabra, “South Atlantic crossfire: Portugal in-between Brazil and NATO”, Portuguese Institute of International Relations and Security, IPRIS Viewpoints, November 2010, p. 12.
- 58.
Ibid.
- 59.
“NATO — Luís Amado defende ‘recentramento’ no Atlântico e sublinha papel de Portugal pelas relações com África e Brasil”, 26/3/2009—Público—Agência Lusa.
- 60.
“Security Industry — U.K. mounts warfare exercise in Falklands”, Business News, December 28, 2009.
- 61.
Ibid.
- 62.
The Fourth Fleet of the U.S. Navy operated in the South Atlantic between 1943 and 1950.
- 63.
Portugal considers the political triangle linking the country to the Madeira and Azores archipelagos to be a strategic Euro-Atlantic space, hence its projection to the South Atlantic.
- 64.
The government of Portugal and defended the extension of NATO to the South Atlantic since the time of the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar (1932–1968), in order to defend Africa from a communist attack and ensure the freedom of maritime traffic, the Cape route, through which oil was transported to Western Europe and the United States. The United States possess the Lajes Base in Terceira (Azores).
- 65.
Claudia Antunes, “Ministro da Defesa ataca estratégia militar de EUA e Otan para o Atlântico Sul”, Folha de S. Paulo, 4/11/2010.
- 66.
Minister Nelson Jobim, speech at the end of the International Conference The Future of the Transatlantic Community, Lisbon, Institute of National Defense, 10/9/2010.
- 67.
“NATO neglecting South Atlantic in new strategic concept — MoD — Draft recommendations for a new strategic concept for NATO do not pay sufficient attention to the South Atlantic, says Portugal’s defense minister, promising to raise the issue with alliance leader”, The Portugal News Online, 18/9/2010.
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Moniz Bandeira, L.A. (2017). US and NATO Attempts to Maintain World Domination. In: The Second Cold War. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54888-3_15
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