R2P's next ten years : deepening and extending the consensus

Abstract

This chapter argues that, although the principle of R2P was initially underpinned by strongly cosmopolitan roots, since 2009 it has been defined and implemented in ways that elevate the importance of state responsibility. This trend may have fostered political consensus and given R2P added normative grounding, but it has also obscured both the challenges posed by non-state actors and the opportunities for implementation that exist beyond and below the state. R2P implementation in the next decade will be advanced by micro-level efforts to embed atrocity crime prevention and response into the work of a variety of actors in international society. This agenda requires not only increased attention to those regional or local actors in a position to prevent or respond to atrocity crimes, but also deeper engagement with the specific elements of each of the four crimes and violations specified in the 2005 Summit Outcome Document.