When the intervention in Libya started, it seemed that the importance of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) would grow and exert increasing influence on international relations. The recourse to R2P appeared at the beginning of the conflict in Syria, but it soon was clear that there would be no repeat of the Libyan scenario. The current Syrian crisis could rather serve as a catalyst for discussion on the necessary conditions for a military intervention, thus either strengthening the underlying trend of R2P or blocking it for years. The route to international recognition of R2P goes only through the United Nations as it requires a Security Council sanction, which means the need for unanimity of the SC Permanent Members. Given their different interests and the inability to decide serious matters, the only way to end the conflict in Syria is a large compromise at the UN level that translates into a calming of the situation inside the country: compromise between the belligerents with broad international support. But from the point of view of the application of R2P, the first step is to stop the violence. PISM Strategic File #26