Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: 1,0, University of Richmond, language: English, abstract: Only several weeks ago former U.S. president Bill Clinton admitted again in an interview with CNBC that swift action taken by the U.S. after the start of the genocide in Rwanda "could have saved at least a third of the lives that were lost" (2013, cnbc.com). Already years earlier president Clinton characterized the inaction of the U.S. during the 100 day period where over 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda as the "biggest regret" of his presidency (2005, washingtonpost.com). This raises the question why the U.S., as well as other nations, did not act during the Rwandan genocide. This paper argues that the lack of action displayed during the Rwandan and Bosnian genocide is not merely due to a lack of political will, but rather due to the collision of economic, political, social and legal interests of the state. Firstly, this paper will look at the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and argue that while it lacks some specificity it is adequate to identify genocide. Secondly this paper will look at the reasons why the U.S. talked more about legal formalities than actually about ending occurring genocides. It will particularly analyze the influence of realpolitik, economic interests and public perception in the decision making process whether the U.S. should intervene or not. Thirdly this paper will argue that additionally to national interests the international interest in stopping genocides lacks a clear coordination and focus so to pressure the largest nations to meet their moral and legal responsibility, but is continuing to change. This argument shall be supported by the apparent attempt of the U.S. government to introduce a change in the public approach toward crimes against humanity.

From former UN Ambassador and author of the New York Times bestseller The Education of an Idealist Samantha Power, the Pulitzer Prize-winning book on America's repeated failure to stop genocides around the world In her prizewinning examination of the last century of American history, Samantha Power asks the haunting question: Why do American leaders who vow "never again" repeatedly fail to stop genocide? Power, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the former US Ambassador to the United Nations, draws upon exclusive interviews with Washington's top policymakers, thousands of declassified documents, and her own reporting from modern killing fields to provide the answer. "A Problem from Hell" shows how decent Americans inside and outside government refused to get involved despite chilling warnings, and tells the stories of the courageous Americans who risked their careers and lives in an effort to get the United States to act. A modern classic and "an angry, brilliant, fiercely useful, absolutely essential book" (New Republic), "A Problem from Hell" has forever reshaped debates about American foreign policy. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize Winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Winner of the Raphael Lemkin Award

This perceptive book analyzes the scope of the duty to prevent genocide of China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US in light of the due diligence standard under conventional, customary, and peremptory international law. It expounds the positive obligations of these five states to act both within and without the Security Council context to prevent or suppress an imminent or ongoing genocide.

At head of title: International Institutions and Global Governance Program.

How both the Soviet Union and the United States manipulated and weakened the drafting of the United Nations Genocide Convention treaty in the midst of the Cold War.

Academics, NGOs, the United Nations, and individual nations are focused on the prevention and intervention of genocide. Traditionally, missions to prevent or intervene in genocide have been sporadic and under-resourced. The contributors to this volume consider some of the major stumbling blocks to the avoidance of genocide. Bartrop and Totten argue that "realpolitik" is the" "major impediment to the elimination of genocide. Campbell examines the lack of political will to confront genocide, and Theriault describes how denial becomes an obstacle to intervention against genocide. Loyle and Davenport discuss how intervention is impeded by a lack of reliable data on genocide violence, and Macgregor presents an overview of the influence of the media. Totten examines how the UN Convention on Genocide actually impedes anti-genocide efforts; and how the institutional configuration of the UN is itself often a stumbling block. Addressing an issue that is often overlooked, Travis examines the impact of global arms trade on genocide. Finally, Hiebert examines how international criminal prosecution of atrocities can impede preventive efforts, and Hirsch provides an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, and effectiveness of major international and national prescriptions developed over the last decade. The result is a distinguished addition to Transaction's prestigious Genocide Studies series.