Hesitation and Inconsistency in International Intervention: The Normative Erosion of the Responsibility to Protect - A Comparative Assessment in the Contexts of Darfur and Gaza

Year 2025, Issue: 1, 31 - 54, 29.09.2025

Demet Şefika Mangır

https://doi.org/10.35344/japss.1762387

Abstract

The ineffectiveness of the United Nations in the crises in Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, East Timor and Kosovo in the 1990s undermined the legitimacy of the humanitarian intervention norm, and many academics argued that this norm had come to an end. However, these crises paved the way for the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle developed in 2005. The NATO intervention in Libya in 2011, carried out under the R2P principle, began with the aim of protecting civilians but resulted in regime change, leading to serious normative criticism. Subsequently, Russia’s interventions in Crimea (2014) and Syria (2015) and France’s intervention in Mali (2013) have reinforced debates about the instrumentalisation of R2P. On the other hand, the international community’s silence in crises involving serious human rights violations, such as in Darfur and Gaza, has brought the selective application of R2P and the issue of double standards back to the forefront. In both cases, questions are being raised about how, when, and why the international community intervened (or failed to intervene), and the effects of these interventionist or passive attitudes on the normative legitimacy of R2P are being analysed. This study aims to evaluate the extent to which R2P’s normative power remains functional from political, legal, and ethical perspectives by comparing the cases of Darfur and Gaza.

Keywords

Responsibility to Protect (R2P) , Humanitarian Intervention , Darfur , Gaza , Ethics of Intervention.

ULUSLARARASI MÜDAHALEDE TEREDDÜT VE TUTARSIZLIK: KORUMA SORUMLULUĞUNUN NORMATİF EROZYONU: DARFUR VE GAZZE VAKALARI BAĞLAMINDA KARŞILAŞTIRMALI BİR DEĞERLENDİRME

Abstract

1990’lı yıllarda yaşanan Somali, Ruanda, Bosna, Doğu Timor ve Kosova krizlerinde Birleşmiş Milletler (BM)’in etkisizliği, insani müdahale normunun meşruiyetini zedelemiş ve birçok akademisyen bu normun sona erdiğini ileri sürmüştür. Ancak bu krizler, 2005’te geliştirilen Koruma Sorumluluğu (Responsibility to Protect-R2P) ilkesine zemin hazırlamıştır. 2011’de Libya’da R2P ilkesi çerçevesinde gerçekleşen Kuzey Atlantik Antlaşması Örgütü’nün (NATO) müdahalesi ise sivil koruma amacıyla başlasa da rejim değişikliğiyle sonuçlanarak ciddi normatif eleştirilere neden olmuştur. Ardından Rusya’nın Kırım (2014) ve Suriye (2015) müdahaleleri ile Fransa’nın Mali (2013) müdahalesi, R2P’nin araçsallaştırıldığına dair tartışmaları güçlendirmiştir. Buna karşın, Darfur ve Gazze gibi ağır insan hakları ihlallerinin yaşandığı krizlerde uluslararası toplumun sessiz kalması, R2P’nin seçici uygulanışı ve çifte standart sorunlarını yeniden gündeme getirmiştir. Her iki vakada da uluslararası toplumun nasıl, ne zaman ve neden müdahale ettiği (veya etmediği) sorgulanmakta; bu müdahaleci veya pasif tutumların R2P’nin normatif meşruiyeti üzerindeki etkileri analiz edilmektedir. Bu çalışma, Darfur ve Gazze vakalarını karşılaştırmalı olarak inceleyerek, R2P’nin normatif gücünün siyasi, hukuki ve etik açılardan ne ölçüde işlevsel kaldığını değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

Koruma Sorumluluğu (Responsibility to Protect-R2P) , İnsani Müdahale , Darfur , Gazze , Müdahale Etiği

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