Activity from Human Rights & Inequality and Conflict & Warfare

Rights and Justice in Practice: Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

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Learning Objectives

Students will evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of peacekeeping missions and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine.

Length
10-15 Minutes
Grade Level
High School

Instructional Plan

Have students read What Is Peacekeeping? and The Rise and Fall of the Responsibility to Protect. As they read, have them answer the questions below (or fill out the Google Doc handout).

  1.  Under what circumstances does the United Nations deploy peacekeeping missions?

     

  2. What have been some of the historical shortcomings of peacekeeping missions?

     

  3. How does the concept of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) seek to address some of those shortcomings?

     

  4. Under the R2P doctrine, the responsibility for protecting human rights falls to the UN. Where does responsibility for protecting human rights usually lie? Under what circumstances is R2P invoked, shifting that responsibility?

     

  5. R2P is a relatively new doctrine. How successful has its implementation been so far? What concerns have been raised about its use?