Perceptions of R2P

This chapter provides a broader focus to explore the global practice of military intervention for humanitarian purposes and the implications of this qualitative case study for R2P, linking it with relevant discourse. As previously acknowledged, the British intervention in Sierra Leone occurred prior to the ratification of R2P and so cannot be termed R2P per se. However, the intervention centres upon the protection of civilians in a context of widespread extreme violence. Participants are uniquely positioned to offer their views on R2P, with their understandings based on experience rather than purely theoretical knowledge. There is a closer focus in this analysis, due to it being led by the data and central themes of legitimacy, mandate and modes of intervention are explored. What appears as individual themes in the analysis actually presents as heavily interwoven, mutually reinforcing, and complex insights. Findings from the preceding chapters are built upon, this time exploring the implications for R2P discourse. There are references to previous themes, which contain relevant data extracts. This chapter continues to demonstrate a juxtaposition between how policy is envisaged and how it is enacted, with participants highlighting the UN and political leaders’ continued misinterpretation of what is needed or wanted on the ground in mass atrocity circumstances. This further reinforces the benefits of a ‘bottom up’ approach to research. It is acknowledged that to include further primary research from key figures within R2P (such as those based within the UN) could potentially widen the range of perspectives offered. However, this is beyond the scope of this book.