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09 September 2011
GPPi comments on the political consequences of NATO’s Libya intervention
GPPi Associate Director Thorsten Benner, in a September 8 op-ed on the Deutsche Welle website, argues that while it was the right decision to prevent a massacre in Benghazi, Libya, NATO's subsequent actions could harm future efforts to protect civilians. The commentary is titled NATO's Libya Mission Could Cause a Political Backlash.
In his article, Benner writes that rather than giving new momentum to the emerging norm of the “responsibility to protect” (R2P), NATO’s interpretation of the UN mandate might in fact prove to be an obstacle to the protection of civilians in the future. The UN Security Council had for the first time explicitly invoked R2P in its resolution and authorized “all necessary measures” to protect Libya’s population. However, NATO’s interpretation of this formula as a mandate for regime change has alienated powers such as India, China, Brazil and South Africa, which are now even less likely to support similar resolutions in the future.
Instead of engaging in exaggerated triumphalism, NATO members should now reach out to R2P skeptics and engage in a serious dialogue on the meaning of this norm as well as its translation into practice. Finding common ground with these powers will be necessary once the next crisis looms.
Read the op-ed NATO's Libya Mission Could Cause a Political Backlash.
For more information, please contact Thorsten Benner.