This study approached human security by focusing on the development of R2P and we argued that R2P implies legal and moral obligations for the international community to act in the interest of people's safety and welfare. Despite such legal and moral requirements being recognized by an increasing number of political actors, there remains a lack of political will to act. The case study we presented on Libya indicates that there was a general consensus, at least in this instance, on the principles and values of R2P by most of the UN Security Council members. Yet, the practical application of protection is fraught with many challenges, as the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Syria indicates. By late 2012, over 60,000 people have been killed in Syria's vicious civil war, and the international community's response has been limited to expressions of outrage and concern.

There has been a gradual shift towards a more human-centric approach in international relations. The state-centric approach and the sovereignty norm have dominated international relations throughout history, but after World War II, and particularly after the Cold War(s), there has been an evolving debate regarding the moral acceptability and legal validity of intervention into the affairs of a sovereign state. Attention has increasingly been directed towards these issues as the number of failing and failed states has increased. Such states lack the institutional capacity to provide security, prosperity and/or representation by the people, and they are often severely challenged by intrastate and regional tensions, as well as violent internal upheavals between armed fractions and paramilitary groups.