Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AO QC is one of the world’s leading experts on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. We were fortunate enough to host him at our annual conference on 20 July this year and have posted two videos below.

In this 7 minute Q&A video, Professor Evans discusses R2P and explains the differences between intervening in Libya and Syria, calling the Libyan intervention and the one in Cote D’Ivoire “textbook applications” of the doctrine.  He also ruminates on Australia’s bid for a Security Council seat, stating that 27 years without a seat on the world’s supreme decision making body is “an abdication of responsibility”.

This longer piece is the full video of his talk at the conference, entitled ‘‘The responsibility to protect’ after Libya and Syria’:

The abstract of Professor Evans’ talk is:

‘The responsibility to protect’ doctrine unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005 has been hailed by historian Martin Gilbert as the most significant adjustment to sovereignty in 360 years. But is the international community’s willingness to cooperate in ending mass atrocity crimes more rhetorical than real? Was the intervention in Libya a new benchmark for effective action – or, given subsequent paralysis over Syria, the high water mark from which the tide will now recede?

Video from Tunisian blogger Sami Ben Gharbia is also on our Youtube channel, and we will posting video from our other conference speakers as we finish editing it.