Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-294) and index.

Rhetoric and Reality -- PART I: THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT: SOUND AND FURY? The Evolution of the Responsibility to Protect ; The Responsibility to Protect, Authority and International Law ; The Responsibility to Prevent: The Last Refuge of the Unimaginative? ; Political Will and Non-Intervention -- PART II: BEYOND R2P. In Defence of Humanitarian Intervention and the Potential of International Law ; Understanding the Tension between Sovereignty and Intervention ; Grasping the Nettle: The Parameters of Viable Reform ; The Future of Humanitarian Intervention.

"The notion of a responsibility to protect (R2P) has come to dominate debates about humanitarian intervention. This important new book provides a systematic assessment of its evolution and gives a careful critique of its limits in mapping out alternative avenues for the prevention of - and responses to - humanitarian crises." -- Publisher's website.