When to intervene: Collective might in service

The Responsibility to Protect, the report by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, was presented to UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan in New York on 18 December. ICISS was set up by Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy and fully supported by his successor, John Manley, in response to Annan’s challenge to forge a new consensus on the competing principles of international humanitarian concerns and national sovereignty. ICISS members were carefully chosen to reflect a range of geographic, political and professional backgrounds. The work over the past year took us to all continents and most major capitals to hear and reflect on different streams of international opinion.

Related Subject(s): Human Rights and Refugees