Acknowledging the Political Nature of the Responsibility to Protect’s Framework: A Qualitative Assessement of the Potential of NGOs to Influence the International System and States’ Foreign Policy
Tracci, Cristian Michael
Tracci, Cristian Michael
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Abstract
Fifteen years after the framework of the Responsibility to Protect was designed by the ICISS, the theory lacks practical implementation, despite having reached a wide conceptual agreement. As it was institutionally adopted by the UN Global Summit in 2005, it became clear that no actions could be undertaken outside of the UN system. This resulted in a deadlock at the level of the UNSC due to the veto power of the P5. Given the inherent political nature of the cases addressed by R2P -genocide, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and war crimes - the solution must necessarily be political, moving away from the initially predominant moral stance. Many actors have the potential to create political capital, such as politicians, journalists, scholars or institutions. This research specifically investigates the role played by R2P-related NGOs in influencing the international system and states’decisions. The analysis has been based on interviews - with representatives of two centers (GCR2P and CCR2P) and a government official - and on the factual observation of reality. A deeply constructivist approach clashed with structural constraints, material factors and power politics. Therefore, it has been hard to find a significant positive correlation between R2P-related NGOs and changes in the international system or states’ foreign policy. NGOs have a great potential; indeed,their efforts have been extremely valuable, leading to some important improvements, but at this point it is still hard to identify a constant pattern of influence. They should rather be considered indirect determinants and contributors to this normative and political change.
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Thesis (B.A. in International Affairs)--John Cabot University, Fall 2016.
Date
2016
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Keywords
International organization, International relations, International law and human rights
Citation
Tracci, Cristian Michael. "Acknowledging the Political Nature of the Responsibility to Protect’s Framework: A Qualitative Assessement of the Potential of NGOs to Influence the International System and States’ Foreign Policy". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2016.