ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the recent approaches of Western states to armed civilian protection, those of NATO states and the US and UK in particular. It presents the infusion of civilian protection responsibilities into the practice of UN peacekeeping and the scope and limitations of subtler approaches. Western states have opted for ostentatious and conspicuous 'showpiece' interventions that have aimed to achieve rapid civilian protection effects through the use of overwhelming force, often in the form of air power. Armed humanitarian intervention by Western states has been the exception, rather than the rule, when considering incidences of violence that might fall within the understanding of contemporary civilian protection concepts such as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). The increasing prominence of protection of civilians (POC) operations within UN peacekeeping presents opportunities to carry out civilian protection operations as one component of an established multidimensional operation.
