In a recent paper, Scott Straus, a 2011 Museum Fellow with the Committee on Conscience, explains why it is important for those concerned about preventing genocide to understand what genocide is and what it is not, how we can recognize it in its early stages, and what distinguishes genocide from other forms of mass atrocity. This conceptual analysis, he argues, will provide a framework for decision making about when and how to engage in specific cases.
Read his paper, "Identifying Genocide and Related Forms of Mass Atrocity" (PDF)
Straus is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he also serves as the faculty director of the Human Rights Initiative.