Securitization(s) and Aspects of Political Time:

A Case Study on Conceptions of the “Responsibility to Protect (R2P)”

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine aspects of “political time” with a focus on theories of “securitization” and conceptions of the “responsibility to protect (R2P).” Since its inception in 2001, the R2P concept has been considerably modified through diplomatic process in the UN. This modification produced totally different conceptions of R2P in terms of securitization and political time: the original conception formulated by an international commission called ICISS in 2001 and the other based on a report of the UN Secretary-General in 2009. Comparing them from theoretical perspectives of securitization, this article clarifies aspects of political time, or patterns of triadic relation among time-power-politics underlying the R2P conceptions. Consequently, this comparison shows that the relation has been converted from “control of power by structuralizing political time” in 2001 to “stretch of power by de-structuralizing political time” after 2009. In conclusion, this article extracts brief insights into current politics from the conversion of R2P, securitization and political time.