Since its adoption by world leaders at the 2005 World Summit, the Responsibility to Protect (here R2P) has been hailed as a major achievement in protecting populations from genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing committed by rulers. However, some see R2P not as an effective human rights tool for the protection of civilians as it appears to be another tool for imperialism. My position in this essay is that I believe the R2P doctrine is a notable achievement in world politics as it signals to potential perpetrators of mass atrocities that the world will no longer stand by and watch, but will use force when necessary to protect innocent civilians. My position is articulated as follows. First I will present the contents/principles of the R2P doctrine. Second, I will highlight the legal and moral argument behind R2P, particularly its military aspect. Finally, I will evoke some cases in which R2P has been instrumental in protecting populations from mass killing and show the shortcomings of those who oppose R2P. First, R2P clearly states that: i) the State has the primary responsibility to protect its population from atrocious human rights abuses such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing; (ii) the international community has the responsibility to assist States in fulfilling their primary responsibility as referred to in point (i) and as such, should use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means to protect populations from such crimes; iii) however, when a State fails to protect its populations or is the actual perpetrator of such crimes against its populations, the international community must be ready to take... middle of paper... an international humanitarian plan and human rights laws, as well as customary international laws. There are compelling legal and moral arguments in favor of using military intervention as a last resort to protect populations from current or imminent acts of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, or ethnic cleansing. NATO's intervention in Libya in 2011 is a good example of the importance of R2P for protecting populations from atrocities. The argument of R2P opponents is not at all convincing as it covers only part of the three responsibilities of R2P.Works Cited1. Final document of the World Summit2. Roland Paris, “R2P Is Not a License for Military Recklessness,” in the Center for International Policy Study blog (March 12, 2012), retrieved online at http://cips.uottawa.ca/r2p-is-not-a - license for military imprudence/