ABSTRACT
This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part explains the emergence of protection of civilians as an objective for military forces in operations today. The second part argues that 'gap' conforms to General Rupert Smith's general observation about how military forces have failed to find utility in today's operations. By applying Smith's work on the utility of force and war amongst the people to the particular objective of protecting civilians. It then discusses how finding utility of force to protect civilians requires a different approach than is currently found in existing military doctrines for other types of operations. The third and final part looks beyond the current implementation gap and focuses on how the operationalisation of protecting civilians may change in the future. It then discusses, the nature of protection of civilians as an objective for military forces will also change in light of the broader trends.
