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This book provides a discussion of the main events and arguments that have influenced the debate around the R2P and the principles evolution, namely, the war on terror and the 2003 war in Iraq, the crisis in Darfur, and lastly, the U.N. Security Council buy-in regarding the ICISS articulated criteria to guide the use of military force in humanitarian intervention. A central theme underlying this book is the claim that the international system is experiencing a change in the writers/authors of the rules of the system. The argument is built upon the abovementioned main factors that influence the R2Ps evolution as evidence the central assertion being that the war in Iraq has weakened the moral standing of the U.S. and the U.K., and has negative impact on the credibility of these states as norm carriers. This has not only diminished their ability to build consensus on and commitment to the R2P, but has also engendered widespread hostility and suspicion towards the principle.

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Nicolas A. Smit holds a bachelor degree of honours in Social Sciences with the specialisation in International Relations from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Smit has worked as a journalist and media practitioner in Namibia for the past three years, and has recently set up a blog that provides opinion and analysis on political and socio-economic issues in South Africa. Smit has a keen interest in the study of conflict, Third World Politics, International Political Economy as well as Industrial Sociology.

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