Humanitarian intervention has been, and continued to be, one of the most important and debated topics within the international community. In the post Cold War, the preoccupation regarding intervention for humanitarian reasons, especially after the genocide of Rwanda and attacks against civilians in Srebrenica and Kosovo, has leaded the way to the configuration of the Doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). Taking into account that Canada has been the leader in promoting this doctrine, after the call of the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mister Kofi Annan, to get to a consensus within the international community to stop massive violations of human rights and humanitarian law. The aim of this work is to analyze the incidence that has had Canada’s international identity in its interest of promoting the Doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect through its foreign and security policy in the period 2001-2008. This will be studied within the framework of the constructivist theory of Alexander Wendt. In this dissertation it is argued that the collective identity of Canada as a promoter of human rights, middle power and good international citizen led this country, during the government of Jean Chrétien, to be interested in promoting the R2P Doctrine, however, due to a gradual change in its international identity, during the governments of Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, Canada not only promoted, but implemented the R2P by imposing human rights.
