GPPi and partners launch project on debating the responsibility to protect in Brazil, China and South Africa

In September 2013, GPPi launched an 18-month project aimed at promoting and contributing to increased academic and policy exchange about a ​“responsibility to protect” (R2P) in Brazil, China and South Africa. 

The project will be implemented jointly with partners at Fundação Getulio Vargas in Brazil, Beijing Foreign Studies University in China and the South African Institute for International Affairs. 

The idea of a responsibility to protect civilians from mass atrocities in Darfur, Libya, Syria and elsewhere is being increasingly contested as rising powers like Brazil, China and South Africa demand a greater say on the global stage. At the same time, academic and policy discussions about responsible sovereignty, mass atrocity prevention and R2P have been very limited in most countries. 

With its partners in China, Brazil and South Africa in the driver’s seat, and based on the specific norms and forums of policy dialogue in each country, GPPi will support increased academic and policy exchange on these issues. 

Broader, more nuanced national debates are a necessary prerequisite for policymakers to put forward their own ideas on the prevention of mass atrocities and provide alternatives to a purely Western-led debate on R2P. In turn, a better understanding of Brazilian, Chinese and South African debates and positions should help Western policymakers to devise respectful and constructive approaches to engage these countries on evolving global norms. 

To allow a global audience to learn from these engagements, GPPi will provide an analysis of these debates. After a strategy development phase in the fall of 2013, the first events and publications from the project are expected in spring or summer of 2014. 

The project is generously funded by Humanity United.