Pope Benedict: International Law Theorist

I didn’t notice until recently (and thanks to one of my Hofstra colleagues) that Pope Benedict’s recent address to the United Nations included a rather learned disquisition on international law theory. The Pope has a pretty traditional liberal internationalist conception of things but it is certainly smart and sophisticated. Here is an interesting snippet, which might be understood to justify international intervention to prevent violations of human rights (although not quite a brief for humanitarian intervention):

IRecognition of the unity of the human family, and attention to the innate dignity of every man and woman, today find renewed emphasis in the principle of the responsibility to protect. This has only recently been defined, but it was already present implicitly at the origins of the United Nations, and is now increasingly characteristic of its activity. Every State has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made. If States are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene with the juridical means provided in the United Nations Charter and in other international instruments. The action of the international community and its institutions, provided that it respects the principles undergirding the international order, should never be interpreted as an unwarranted imposition or a limitation of sovereignty. On the contrary, it is indifference or failure to intervene that do the real damage. What is needed is a deeper search for ways of pre-empting and managing conflicts by exploring every possible diplomatic avenue, and giving attention and encouragement to even the faintest sign of dialogue or desire for reconciliation.

In any event, it is interesting stuff and worth investigating further.