Victoria Holt

In principle, at least, the world can no longer look the other way while civilian populations are subjected to genocide and mass atrocities, as they were in Rwanda. “In 2005 the UN General Assembly did a pretty amazing thing,” says Victoria Holt, co-director of the Future of Peace Operations project at the Henry L. Stimson Center. “They agreed that if a country can no longer protect its own people from genocide, ethnic cleansing or mass killings, then, but only then, its sovereignty falls away and the international community has the responsibility to protect those civilians – whether through diplomacy, humanitarian action or, as a last resort, by military intervention.” But the enduring violence in Darfur reveals how difficult it is to put the principle of the “responsibility to protect” – R2P for short – into practice. While peacekeeping forces are being deployed around the world in record numbers, protecting civilians is not what militaries are traditionally trained or equipped to do. “What does a peacekeeper do when civilians are attacked? Do they use force to protect the civilians? Do they go after bad guys?” she asks. From interviews with military leaders – tough, experienced commanders who are haunted by their experiences – Holt is building a new understanding of how militaries need to adapt to changing mandates, and how protecting civilians ultimately prevents the recurrence of violent conflict and builds stability. Such cutting-edge thinking will be a prerequisite in the new era of global relations and regional conflict. The road to zero nuclear weapons and a safer, more peaceful world will require that the toughest political grievances and violent conflicts be addressed and resolved. It is often said that what is needed to end the violence in places like Darfur and to prevent future conflict is political will by the world’s leaders. To Holt, something else is required – the operational capacity to act.