Beyond the ‘RtoP’: Responsibility as doing, being and sharing

Abstract

| This review article exposes that the scholarly interest in the notion of 'responsibility' in the field of security studies goes far beyond the 'Responsibility to Protect' and the debate on emerging 'responsible stakeholders' in Asia. It is argued that the significant scholarly attention to 'responsibility' reflects political concerns with transnational threats and humanitarian issues, but it also mirrors a quest for status and power in a post-hegemonic security milieu as well as a need to distribute responsibilities among powers in an effective way. The article reviews approximately 160 peer-reviewed articles to expose strengths and weaknesses in the scholarly production of knowledge on responsibility in the field of security studies. The article suggests a new way to categorize works on responsibility in terms of 'doing', 'being' or 'sharing'; focusing on one or several of these three aspects is an effective way to capture key contemporary problems in international security.