Coinciding with the recent dramatic events in Tripoli and Libya as a whole, Ethics & International Affairs has published a special roundtable on the ethics and meaning of the NATO campaign in Libya, and its implications for future interventions.

 

The symposium, which is available online free of charge for a limited time, features contributions by Jennifer Welsh (Oxford), Simon Chesterman (New York University), Alex J. Bellamy (Queensland), James Pattison (Manchester), and Thomas G. Weiss (City University of New York).

 

Contributors to the roundtable ask: What does Libya mean for the "Responsibility to Protect" (RtoP) doctrine? RtoP claims that governments have basic duties toward their own populations, the breach of which may trigger humanitarian intervention. Contributors also analyze how Libya will affect future potential interventions.

 

Additionally, contributors examine the overall ethics and meaning of the Libya intervention, taking into account the war's human and financial costs, the use of global governance mechanisms—particularly the UN Security Council's role in legitimizing the military campaign—and the legality of the NATO campaign according to international law.