The principle of the Responsibility to Protect, and its objective of preventing and halting mass atrocities, has been widely accepted. The primary role of states to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity is complemented with the responsibilities of the international community. But how is Responsibility to Protect implemented in practice? What can be learnt from experiences so far? What is Finland’s stance on the Responsibility to Protect? How can the International Criminal Court contribute? The aim of the seminar is to bring together various experts to discuss the current standing of the Responsibility to Protect and its implementation.
Puhujat
Ambassador, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Co-Facilitator of the High Level Revitalization Forum for South Sudan
Convenor of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court
Senior Research Fellow, Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Puheenjohtaja
Senior Research Fellow
Bart Gaens is Senior Research Fellow in the Global Security and Governance research programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. From May 2021 to April 2023, he led a project on connectivity in the Indo-Pacific region. He also holds the title of Docent at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki.
In the past he has worked as Project Director for FIIA’s Center on US Politics and Power (CUSPP), Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Helsinki, and Specially-Appointed Associate Professor at Osaka University in Japan.
He has published widely on Europe-Asia inter-regionalism and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process, Japan’s foreign policy and regional role, India’s foreign policy and relations with the EU, domestic politics in Myanmar, and security-related issues in the Indo-Pacific region. He has also (co)edited volumes and reports on connectivity, EU-Asia relations, the US-China rivalry, transatlantic relations, and Japan’s search for strategic partnerships.