Russia on the rebound: using and misusing the Responsibility to Protect

Abstract

Russian leaders consider the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) a Western liberal democratic norm that erodes sovereignty and threatens Russia’s great power status. They suspect the United States and Europe use R2P as a means of effecting regime changes that support their national interests, not as a purely altruistic effort to protect vulnerable populations. Having experienced state collapse, societal fragmentation, and a weakened foreign policy over the past two decades, Russia rejects the Western universalist interpretation of R2P in favor of a civilizational perspective that privileges the Kremlin’s interpretation of when intervention is or is not legitimate. A close analysis of domestic factors in Russian politics, combined with an understanding of Moscow’s newly confident approach to geopolitics, are needed to understand Russia’s position as one of the most vocal critics of the Responsibility to Protect.