Abstract

The nature of conflict has changed since the end of the cold war and so too have the relationships between soldiers and civilians. Civilians are often directly targeted in armed conflicts that are taking place, from Afghanistan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Sri Lanka. A direct response to the protection of civilians was the creation of a doctrine known as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). The basic premise of R2P is that if a state cannot protect its own civilians, or is actively trying to harm its civilians, then there is a global responsibility to intervene and protect them.