Former US presidential special envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson writes that the continuing anemic response of the international community to the “slow motion genocide” in Darfur undermines efforts to give meaning to “Responsibility to Protect”(R2P). While this consequential emerging norm was embraced by more than 175 nations, including the United States, at the 2005 UN World Summit, the complexities of the Sudan situation and the politics of the United Nations frustrate even the semblance of actual implementation.

Ambassador Williamson stresses that, to be consequential, R2P must be more than another development program and must give meaning to the rhetoric of “Never Again!” He stresses that collective action to stop genocide and mass atrocities remains an enormous challenge for the 21st century. R2P should become an effective instrument to protect the innocent.