Genocide Prevention
January 15, 2009
The story "Genocide Prevention Task Force Delivers Blueprint for U.S. Government to Prevent Genocide and Mass Atrocities" outlines the recent report by the Genocide Prevention Task Force (Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers) which outlines 34 recommendations for U.S. Policy makers with the goal of preventing future genocides. These recommendations suggest increasing the focus on genocide, creating systems for assessing and reacting to early warning signs, and creating a clear system of decision-making on the diplomacy and military options. The organizations that convened to write this report are the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of Peace.
Discussion Questions:
- Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright says, "The world agrees that genocide is unacceptable and yet genocide and mass killings continue." Why do you think this is true?
- The report states, "A core challenge for American leaders is to persuade others in the U.S. government, across the United States, and around the world, that preventing genocide is more than just a humanitarian aspiration, but a national and global imperative." What do the authors of the report mean when they say that? How might leaders be convinced of this? How might citizens help their leaders understand that preventing genocide is a priority?
- The task force released this report on the 6oth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, where the UN adopted the definition of the term "genocide" as put forth by Raphael Lemkin. Why is defining the term so important to prevention?
- What is sovereignty? Why does sovereignty sometimes inhibit people and nations from preventing genocides?
- In looking at the recommendations of the report, which seem like they might have the largest effect?
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