ABSTRACT
International organisations are an integral part of contemporary world affairs, articulating norms; clarifying, developing and enforcing laws; and in myriad other ways establishing normative benchmarks for state conduct. Looking back at achievements, Evans discussed the accomplishments, limitations and failures of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) on dimensions: as a normative force, with the UN system as the most authoritative voice of global norms continuing to cite R2P; as an institutional catalyst, for example with the appointment of national focal points; and as a framework for conflict prevention. Legal norms impose binding legal obligations. Political norms create moral obligations. But the latter can still be encased in a wider legal context and have legal effects. The roles that international institutions play include autonomous global actors, systemic modifiers of state behaviour and collective legitimators of national policy. Collective norms are inalienably embedded in the constitutive acts and constitutional clauses that establish the institutions and govern their policy and conduct.
