From Peacekeeping to R2P: The Protection of Civilians as the UN's New Raison D'Etre?

Abstract

This paper was first presented at the Université du Québec at Montréal in a workshop on the evolution of the civilian/military distinction and means deployed to protect civilians in war. It aims to chart the evolution of peace operations in relation to the protection of civilians (POC), a theme that has become dominant in the last decade. Charting the genesis of that evolution, it relates it to evolving understandings about the use of force, the normative framework of reaction to atrocities, and the evolution of the very concept of peace operations. It finds that POC remains a vexed issue, one that deeply challenges our understanding of what peace operations entail.