R2P as an atrocity-prevention framework: Concepts and instituionalization at the global level

This chapter introduces the field of atrocity prevention as a way to ground the R2P implementation agenda in the existing research and policy frameworks. It describes developments in the institutionalization of R2P across the UN system where global efforts have focused to date. It shows how the institutional positioning of R2P within the UN has structured the primary understandings of the relationship between R2P and atrocity prevention that have been formative of early initiatives to implement R2P at the domestic and regional levels. These demonstrate both the extent and limitations of existing implementation efforts, and provides context for the chapters that follow in this volume to show where greater creativity and opportunity exist to strengthen current implementation efforts.