This thesis will examine the implications the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 (2011) poses to sovereignty and its current understanding in relation to military intervention for the protection of civilians in an internal armed conflict. Resolution 1973 provides an opportunity to examine: the development of sovereignty from its earliest inception to its position within the modern international system of states; the challenge humanitarian intervention posed to accepted principles of sovereignty, non-interference and the use of force; the recent addition of the concept of the Responsibility to Protect which re-conceptualised sovereignty as responsibility; and the Security Council's established practice in relation to authorising armed intervention, which is integral to this thesis. Supporting this body of work is the Charter of the United Nations (1945) which articulates the body of rules that states are guided by in matters of international peace and security, and the protection of human rights, and which also determines the parameters of Security Council action. This thesis aims to establish that Resolution 1973 is a substantial contribution to the incremental development of sovereignty and how it is currently understood within international law.