The Responsibility to Protect: Between Humanitarian Legitimacy and Political Instrumentalization, An Analytical Study of the Libyan Case
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63939/JIES.2026-Vol8.N22.1Keywords:
Responsibility to Protect, Humanitarian Intervention, Libyan Crisis, Security CouncilAbstract
This study examines the problematic relationship between the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the limits of its application in the Libyan case. It analyzes the gap between the United Nations mandate to protect civilians and the actual course of military implementation. The study proceeds from the premise that the problem lies not in the principle’s moral or legal foundations, but in the deviations that may arise in practice, where action can extend beyond civilian protection to shaping the internal balance of power and restructuring the political landscape.
The study adopts an analytical approach by examining United Nations Security Council Resolutions S/RES/1970 and S/RES/1973, comparing their legal authorization with the actions carried out on the ground by NATO and its allies. It also employs a critical perspective, drawing on the Socratic distinction between truth and rhetoric, to unpack the relationship between humanitarian discourse and the political function of intervention.
The study concludes that while the intervention in Libya was framed, both rhetorically and legally, as an effort to protect civilians, it did not remain confined to this objective in practice. It gradually evolved into support for one side of the conflict, contributing to the weakening and eventual collapse of the Libyan regime. The Libyan case therefore demonstrates that the Responsibility to Protect, despite its humanitarian foundation, remains vulnerable to political instrumentalization beyond its original purpose.
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Author Biography
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Faisal Baraa Almarashi, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Türkiye
Faisal Baraa Almarashi is a researcher at the Middle East Institute at Sakarya State University in Türkiye. His research interests focus on issues related to the responsibility to protect, international humanitarian intervention, public international law, international politics, and conflict and crisis studies, with particular interest in analyzing the relationship between humanitarian discourse and the political instrumentalization of international intervention.
ORCID
0000-0002-2878-5634
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