Jeune Street

Cumbria, England

Responsibility to Protect

I've made a few overtures in previous posts about the idea of 'responsibility to protect' (R2P), and I thought I'd offer some very preliminary thoughts on the subject here. R2P is a concept of state sovereignty which the United Nations and several member states have been trying to push into being accepted as an international relations norm -- or in other words,  a widely-held belief about acceptable state behaviour. At its simplest level, the idea challenges the prevailing view that state sovereignty is inviolable. Instead, sovereignty is conditional upon a state's willingness or ability to protect its population.

As the concept has evolved since a 2001 Canadian-led report, it has become enmeshed in legal debates about what justifies humanitarian intervention -- and in the process the concept of 'protection' has become limited to genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing. In this respect R2P simply repeats what is already international law, and some have wondered whether the whole project of redefining state sovereignty has been lost.

Sovereignty in the Writings of Baha'u'llah

In considering the parameters of state sovereignty and responsibility, I have found that the writings of Baha'u'llah offer some helpful insights. Writing in the late 19th century, Baha'u'llah addressed several letters to sovereigns and he frequently urged them to deepen their accountability to their people and to uphold the rights of the oppressed. Interestingly, he wrote very little about elections, but his letters include a coherent concept of democratic sovereignty. In these letters he frequently refers to the obligations of rulers to uphold 'justice' and 'wisdom':

Take heed, O concourse of the rulers of the world! There is no force on earth that can equal in its conquering power the force of justice and wisdom.... Blessed is the king who marcheth with the ensign of wisdom unfurled before him, and the battalions of justice massed in his rear. He verily is the ornament that adorneth the brow of peace and the countenance of security. There can be no doubt whatever that if the day star of justice, which the clouds of tyranny have obscured, were to shed its light upon men, the face of the earth would be completely transformed. (Tablet of Maqsud)

In this letter and in his Tablet to the Kings, Baha'u'llah refers repeatedly to 'justice' and 'wisdom' in governance. In referring to justice, Baha'u'llah writes that rulers should "restrain the tyranny of the oppressor" and "safeguard the rights of the downtrodden". With respect to wisdom, he writes that rulers should "inquire into their [peoples'] affairs, and ascertain, every year, nay every month, their condition," and not to "entrust thine affairs of state into another's hands". These phrases (or something similar) are frequently used in both letters.

From this very cursory reading of Baha'u'llah's writings on the subject, state sovereignty is rooted in political accountability (wisdom) and the protection of basic rights (justice). It is interesting to note that the legitimacy of rulers is connected to their actions on behalf of their people, and not a divine right or military domination. Furthermore, the concept of 'protection' (which resonates with R2P) is accompanied by that of accountability, or wisdom.

Beyond the tension between unconditional sovereignty and democracy

International relations (and the United Nations system) are afflicted with a tension between the assertion of democracy as a universal value and and the norm of inviolable state sovereignty -- that any state can do what it wants. Current discussions about R2P have been held up by concerns about the conditions for humanitarian intervention (or negative sovereignty) rather than the standards for responsible governance (or positive sovereignty). As such, it has been limited to extreme cases (like genocide) and it fails to address those in between, such as Iran, Zimbabwe, Burma. What is needed is a concept of democratic sovereignty that incarnates state responsibility without resorting to imposing entire systems of governance.

Renovating the concept of sovereignty requires looking into what it should be in practice. Baha'u'llah's writings offer two pillars of state sovereignty -- justice and wisdom -- that can help to move the discourse beyond the current impasse.

Defining the conditions of sovereignty involves more than just establishing when it has been violated (for the purposes of humanitarian intervention) -- we need a shared language of how many systems of governance should act on behalf of their people. Both justice and wisdom are needed. In fact, they are deeply related; it is precisely the lack of accountability that often leads to government failure to protect populations.