Brian Steidle
On September 21, the Will to Intervene Project, developed jointly by
General Romeo Dallaire, the commander of the UN peacekeeping force for Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, and the
Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies released its final report,
"Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities." According to the Montreal Institute's website, the goal of the Will to Intervene Project is:
...to understand how to operationalize the principles of the Canadian-sponsored Report of the International Commission on Intervention and States Sovereignty on the Responsibility to Protect [2001]. Research will focus on how to better mobilize domestic political will in Canada and the United States. Furthermore, practical tools will be designed for nongovernmental agencies, the media, and interested groups, and the general public so they can effectively pressure governments to take action to prevent future genocides and other crimes against humanity.
The work of the Will to Intervene Project also complements the
Genocide Prevention Task Force report, published in 2008 by the Museum, USIP, and the American Academy for Diplomacy, and signals a growing movement to transform the idea of preventing and responding to genocide into practical policy options.
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