A conference hosted by UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations will examine the issue of international humanitarian intervention today.
The conference, which will be in Covel Commons, is centered around a doctrine called “Responsibilty to Protect,” said Burkle Center Director Kal Raustiala.
The doctrine states that governments have a responsibility to protect their citizens, and that the international community has a responsibility to step in when they do not, Raustiala said.
The conference will feature prominent speakers such as Gareth Evans, former Foreign Minister of Australia, president of the International Crisis Group and co-author of the doctrine, he added.
In examining the issue of humanitarian intervention, Raustiala said, conference participants will discuss past humanitarian crises such as those in Kosovo, Rwanda and Bosnia, as well as current humanitarian issues involving Darfur and the Congo.
“The question is how the international community should help vulnerable communities across the world,” he added.
Raustiala said the conference would consist of a number of panels, each of which would hold a question and answer session after their presentations.
David Kaye, executive director of the International Human Rights Law Program and moderator of a panel entitled “Learning from the Past,” said that the goal was to take lessons from past humanitarian crises and apply them to the issues that are currently facing global leaders.
“These are issues that the international community did not learn from or intervened too late,” he said.
Kaye said that the conference was particularly timely given the humanitarian goals of the Obama administration.
“Obama as a candidate spoke quite passionately about the need to deal with situations before they become atrocities, and about dealing with current atrocities,” he said.
Raustiala said he expected an audience of around 140 people at the event, including undergraduate and graduate students, various human rights activists and professors from both UCLA and other universities.