Can international law reconcile the paradox between sovereign equality, the prohibition on the use of force, and the moral imperative to prevent mass atrocity crimes?
This book offers a rigorous analysis of the legality of humanitarian intervention and evaluates the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) as a normative alternative to unilateral force. Drawing on UN Charter interpretation, state practice, case law, and developments from Kosovo to Libya and Syria, it examines how law, power, and legitimacy interact in such interventions. By proposing lawful pathways for collective action when the Security Council is deadlocked, the book advances a principled framework for atrocity prevention within the UN system.