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Abstract

As the eradication of inequality remains a pinnacle focus across global discussion and decision making, it becomes increasingly important to evaluate whether international players reinforce the very thing they claim to prevent. Therefore, I shall begin by unpacking one norm in the context of one state to begin answering - do those who fight inequality really create it? This dissertation delves into this enormous question by evaluating the ability of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm to uphold a hegemonic global order, in reference to a particular contemporary issue. The R2P norm was officially adopted in 2005 and has since received widespread criticism, accusing the concept of allowing western states to maintain a dominant presence in the political realms of the global south. There is a vast amount of literature dedicated to this critique, many of which use the example of Libya to demonstrate its failure. However, this dissertation will study the use of it in the ongoing response to the conflict in Myanmar. Unlike others, it draws on arguments which justify R2P, as well as those which critique it, to gain a detailed insight into the conditions of its practice. To do so, primary research from the United Nations (UN) is studied, alongside secondary research from academic texts. It determines that R2P does in fact allow for the preservation of international power relations, but this is due to the implementation, rather than the norm itself. In determining this, the position of R2P as between ‘a rock and a hard place’ becomes clear, in which it is faced with no entirely beneficial outcome. As a result, this dissertation contributes to a wider questioning of International Development discourse and can act as a starting point in asking – how does development progress from here?

Course: International Development - BA - C28415

Date Deposited: 2022-02-17

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13810.html