The U.S. Should Reject the U.N. "Responsibility to Protect" Doctrine

Publication Date: May 2008

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Steven Groves

Research Area: Human rights

Keywords: International organizations; Sovereignty; United Nations; Responsibility to protect

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Advocates of "responsibility to protect" believe that the international community has an obligation to intervene, militarily if necessary, in another country to prevent acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing. To preserve its national sovereignty, the United States must maintain a monopoly on decisions to deploy U.S. military forces and to use diplomatic pressure, economic sanctions, and/or political coercion.