Objective/Context:

One major pillar of the world orders’ legitimacy is the existence and recognition of international norms and institutions. In the literature on International Relations, many studies call attention to the importance of these features in approaching such topics as (inter)national sovereignty, humanitarian crises, and military interventions. Since the dynamic of contemporary global power is changing due to the rise of new centres of power such as the BRICS countries, it is worth evaluating whether, and to what extent, these new actors will follow the same established norms or challenge them. In this article, we analyse the BRICS’s adherence or failure to adhere to the norms encompassed by the concept of “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P).

Methodology:

It is a comparative investigation, based on official documents and a qualitative analysis, and focuses on the period of 2005-2017.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest that even though the BRICS group do not present a united front in this field, they have highlighted the divisions in the international approach to R2P as seen in two major initiatives, led by Brazil and China.

Originality:

We argue that Brazil´s “Responsibility while Protecting” (RwP) and China´s “Responsible Protection” (RP) mean that those countries can be classified as “active critics of the norms” of R2P, while the other members are either “active critics” or “active critics and implementers”.