Decolonizing the Responsibility to Protect: On pervasive Eurocentrism, Southern agency and struggles over universals

2021 ◽  
pp. 096701062110278
Author(s):  
Coralie Pison Hindawi
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Third World ◽  
Global South ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
The West ◽  
Liberal Ideal ◽  
Southern States ◽  
Critical Literature

Many postcolonial or critical scholars are rather sceptical of the Responsibility to Protect principle. In most of the critical literature, Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is presented as a product from the West, whose liberal ideal relies on a perception of Southern states being potentially dysfunctional, which in turn justifies an interventionist discourse with neocolonial overtones. The problem with this interpretation of R2P is that it essentially ignores non-Western, particularly Southern, inputs on the concept, falling precisely into the trap that, many authors claim, vitiates Responsibility to Protect: its West-centrism. Building upon a mix of critical, decolonial, postcolonial and Third World Approaches to International Law scholarship, this article proposes a number of additional steps to decolonize R2P in an effort to avoid what Pinar Bilgin describes as ‘conflating the critiques of the particularity of universals with critiques of the idea of having universals’. What successive decolonizing layers expose is a negotiation process in which the agency of states from the global South in shaping the – still controversial – principle has proved particularly obvious. Decolonizing Responsibility to Protect, this article argues, requires critical scholars to engage in a contrapuntal analysis in order to acknowledge the concept’s mutual constitution by the West and the ‘rest’ and the deeper struggles over universals hiding underneath.

Analysis on the Legal Nature of ‘Responsibility to Protect’

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-295
Author(s):  
Hui-Chol Pak ◽  
Hye-Ryon Son ◽  
Son-Kyong Jong
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Law ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Military Interventions ◽  
The West ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
Sceptical View ◽  
Different Parts

At present, some states are undertaking military interventions in different parts of the world, contending the ‘legitimacy’ of their i006Evocation of responsibility to protect civilians from a humanitarian crisis. Discussions at international forums concerning the concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) are inconclusive about its legal nature and application. While some scholars and states support the doctrine of R2P as being legitimate, others challenge or take a rather sceptical view. Divergent views seem to be originating from its incompatibilities with the rules of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations. What is controversial is that the supporters of R2P are mainly from the West, while objections to R2P are from developing countries mainly from West Asia or Africa. This raises concerns about the possibility of future applications of R2P in any of the countries in these regions or other developing countries. The article, analyses the legal nature of R2P in terms of the main principles of international law and other sources of international law and argues that the legitimacy and international legal effect of R2P are uncertain.

Internal Self-Determination in International Law: A Critical Third-World Perspective

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalana SENARATNE
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Third World ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The West ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Third World ◽  
World Perspective

Internal self-determination is a popular dimension of self-determination in international law. Often regarded as a right to democratic governance, its early promoters were largely Western states and international lawyers. A central observation made by such promoters was that the West favoured internal self-determination while the Third World did not. The present article will argue why this is a misconception and an outdated observation today. However, having argued so, the article proceeds to develop a Third World-oriented constructive critique of internal self-determination, suggesting why the Third World should nevertheless be more critically cautious and vigilant about the promotion of internal self-determination by Western actors as a distinct and concrete right in international law.

The South, the West, and the meanings of humanitarian intervention in history

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-533
Author(s):  
Patrick Quinton-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Third World ◽  
Humanitarian Intervention ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Way

AbstractAs it has been written, the history of humanitarian intervention is all too Whiggish and all too white. By conceptualising humanitarian intervention in the way that they do, orthodox histories should be seen as entangled in debates about the origins of human rights but also, perhaps more crucially, debates about the various formations and reinventions of human rights. Alternative codifications of rights reveal the historical possibility of a Southern practice of what we would almost certainly call ‘humanitarian intervention’. The record of a radical Third World practice to save strangers from the atrocities of colonialism and extreme racism is also a record of Western states playing staunchly sovereigntist roles, of the West's late devotion to Westphalia. To sketch out such a counterhistory is to argue the following: at a threshold moment in the international-political life of the Responsibility to Protect, it is the terms, range, and domain of the intervention debate that must be re-formulated and re-evaluated.

scholarly journals International Law is Western Made Global Law: The Perception of Third-World Category

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 337-356
Author(s):  
Brian-Vincent Ikejiaku
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Third World ◽  
The West ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Global North ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
Multinational Businesses ◽  
Global Law

Abstract The way in which international law has been constructed and reconstructed over the ages in favour of the Western countries has driven some Third-World scholars to perceive international law as ‘a global law made by the West’ for the purpose of controlling global undertakings. In the past, international law was used by the Westerners to legitimise colonialism and all their acts of exploitation in the developing countries. In the modern period, international law is predominantly used to protect, project and promote (3Ps) the interest of the Westerners. This includes their multinational businesses scattered globally, and protectionist bid against terrorist attacks. This paper uses theoretical, critical and multidisciplinary approaches to examine this perception of international law. It concludes that construction and reconstruction of international law in favour of Western countries has been one key instrument that perpetuate severe inequality between the Global North and Global South, which in turn hampers efforts toward global-peace and security.

Self-Determination and Territorial Integrity: Southern Cameroons and the Republic of Cameroun

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-653
Author(s):  
Valerie Muguoh Chiatoh
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Third World ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
Present Issue ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

African states and institutions believe that the principle of territorial integrity is applicable to sub-state groups and limits their right to self-determination, contrary to international law. The Anglophone Problem in Cameroon has been an ever-present issue of social, political and economic debates in the country, albeit most times in undertones. This changed as the problem metamorphosed into an otherwise preventable devastating armed conflict with external self-determination having become very popular among the Anglophone People. This situation brings to light the drawbacks of irregular decolonisation, third world colonialism and especially the relationship between self-determination and territorial integrity in Africa.

Conceptions And Interpretations of Human Rights in Europe and Asia: Normative Aspects

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-135
Author(s):  
Bożena Drzewicka
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
The West ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
The World ◽  
International Human

Conceptions And Interpretations of Human Rights in Europe and Asia: Normative AspectsThe issue of confronting values between civilizations has become very important. It influences not only the level of international politics but also the international normative activity. It is very interesting for the modern international law and its doctrine. The most important factor of causing huge changes in the system of international law is still the international human rights protection and the international humanitarian law which is related to it. It is very difficult to create one catalogue of executive instruments and procedures but it is possible to influence the attitude toward the basic paradigms. The frictions appear from time to time and move to other planes. The West and Asia are still antagonists in the dialogue on the future of the world. The article is a contribution to the intercivilizational dialogue.

Turkish policy towards Libya after the February 2011 revolution

2020 ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Rafea Shareef Dhanoon
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Military Cooperation ◽  
The West ◽  
Regional Parties ◽  
Spheres Of Influence ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

The close relations between Turkey and Libya are still on the rise, and this was evident through Turkish support at all levels of the internationally recognized government of Al-Sarraj winner. The Memorandum of Understanding signed between Turkey and Libya on 27 / November 2019, in the areas of security and military cooperation and the determination of areas of influence revealed The navy, the extent of the historical close relationship between Ankara and Tripoli, just as the Turkish President Erdogan wanted to deliver a message to the West and other regional parties after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, that Turkey has a non-negotiable sovereign right to define the maritime spheres of influence and that this right stems from international law. In light of these tracks, we will shed light on the orientations of Turkish policy towards Libya after the February 2011 revolution, by defining the determinants of those trends and examining the most important obstacles in the march of Turkish policy towards Libya.

Global E-Waste Management and Second-Hand Consumption in the Third World: Substandard Context and Tokunbo Phenomenon in Nigeria

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayokunle Olumuyiwa Omobowale
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
New Products ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Environmental Standards ◽  
The West ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
The Public ◽  
Standards And Regulations ◽  
The Third World ◽  
National Environmental

The world is technologically advancing, but the management of resultant waste, commonly known as e-waste, is also becoming very challenging. Of major concern is the incessant flow of this waste into the developing world where they assume secondhand value in spite of the associated environmental threats. This study adopts the qualitative approach to examine this phenomenon in Nigeria. The study reveals that aside from being cheaper than the new products, second-hand goods are usually preferred to the new products due to the substandard nature of most new electronics largely imported from Asia (especially China). The tag of Tokunbo or ‘imported from the West’ associated with second-hand goods imported from developed countries makes them more preferable to the public relative to new electronics imported from China, disparagingly termed Chinco. Yet both the second-hand electronics that are socially appreciated as Tokunbo and the substandard new electronics imported into Nigeria together render the country a huge recipient of goods that soon collapse and swell the e-waste heap in the country. This situation may be mitigated through strengthening the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, and also by sensitizing Nigerians on the dangers inherent in e-wastes.

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