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Current And Potential Capacity For The Prevention Of Genocide And Mass Atrocities Within The United Nations System, Deborah Mayersen

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

At the World Summit in 2005, United Nations member states unanimously endorsed the ‘Responsibility to Protect'. This acknowledged the responsibility of states to protect their populations from genocide and mass atrocities, but also that of the international community, acting "through the United Nations". A strong focus of the statement is on the necessity of prevention, and the appropriate "diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means" the United Nations can employ in its service. But what capacity does the United Nations currently have to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing through preventative action? Is it …