The Emotional Underpinnings of Responsibility in Global Governance: UNSC Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security and The Responsibility to Protect

When it comes to global governance of human security, two norms stand out: UNSC Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security and the “responsibility to protect”. What makes these norms revolutionary is the fact that they invite states to assume responsibility not only for their own well-being but also for the well-being of strangers. In other words, they invite states to empathize. The “responsibility to protect” thus prompts states to take “the point of view of those seeking or needing support, rather than those who may be considering intervention” and UNSC Resolution 1324 asks them to acknowledge “special needs of women and girls” affected by violent conflicts and to take “gender perspective” in their endeavours to settle them. That said, the aim of the paper is to examine how empathy works to produce these other-regarding responsibilities in global governance. It does so by looking at the institutionalization practices of the two norms; that is, by looking at how various advocates have engaged empathy to get states to subscribe to them. Accordingly, the paper’s overall aim is twofold: to extend our understanding of responsibility in global governance and to add to the burgeoning literature on the role of emotions in world politics.