The role of Regional Organisations in implementing the R2P Principle. The case of Libya

Since the United Nations (UN) embraced the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in 2005, a specific emphasis has been placed on the potential role that regional organisations (ROs) can play in implementing the principle and on the need to strengthen UN-ROs cooperation in this regard. The recent crisis in Libya, where regional organisations have variously made their voice heard, provides an opportunity to gain new insights as regard the operationalisation of the R2P. The analysis in this paper is based on the three-pillar strategy formulated in the 2009 UN Secretary-General’s Report on Implementing the responsibility to protect and focuses on the League of Arab States and the African Union. First, it assesses whether the intervention of the two regional organisations is in line with the three-pillar strategy. Secondly, it examines the extent to which the concerned regional organisations cooperated with the United Nations in responding to the Libyan crisis. In light of the historic implementation of R2P in Libya, this paper draws conclusions as to the current state of the principle and the expected developments. These include the need for further conceptual clarification of the R2P principle and a strengthened UN-ROs cooperation to promote its joint implementation.