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  • Why More Mass Killings in 2013, and What It Portends for This Year

    In a recent post, I noted that 2013 had distinguished itself in a dismal way, by producing more new episodes of mass killing than any other year since the early 1990s. Now let’s talk about why. Each of these mass killings surely involves some unique and specific local processes, and people who study in depth the societies where mass killings are occurring can say much better than I what those are. As someone who believes local politics is always embedded in a global system, however, I don’t think we can fully understand these situations by considering only those idiosyncratic features, either. Sometimes we see “clusters” where they aren’t, but evidence that we live in a global system leads me to think that isn’t what’s happening here.

  • Why the Central African Republic Crisis Is a Security Problem for the US

    In an article for Defense One, Madeleine K. Albright, former Secretary of State and co-chair of the Museum–co-sponsored Working Group on the Responsibility to Protect, discusses the steps taken by the Obama administration to address the situation in the Central African Republic, outlines why atrocities perpetrated in the heart of Africa are important to the strategic interests and moral values of the United States, and why the “responsibility to protect” is applicable here.

  • Museum Statement on Violence in South Sudan

    The Museum expresses grave concern over reports that members of ethnic groups are being targeted for killing in South Sudan and warned of the potential for catastrophic violence if leaders of the country do not act quickly to contain their supporters.

  • The Fog of War is Patchy

    Over at Foreign Policy‘s Peace Channel, Sheldon Himmelfarb of USIP has a new post arguing that better communications technologies in the hands of motivated people now give us unprecedented access to information from ongoing armed conflicts.

  • Sixty-Five Years Later: The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide

    Sixty-five years ago today, in the wake of the Holocaust, the UN General Assembly adopted its first-ever human rights treaty. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide obliges signatories to prevent genocide—defined as acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group—and to punish the perpetrators when it occurs. 

  • Comparison Survey 2014: Assessing Risks of State-Led Mass Killing

    Which countries in the world are most likely to see new episodes of state-led mass killing in 2014? To help us answer this question, we'd like you to participate in a pairwise wiki survey, the aggregated results of which will be made public on our program's web site when it launches early next year. Participation can take as little or as much time as you like, and even just a few minutes of your time will really improve our results. 

  • Detecting Human Rights Violations with Satellites: CPG Fellow Proposes a New Approach

    Satellite imagery is often used to verify reports of a mass human rights violation, such as the destruction of a village in a remote or inaccessible area, and current practice is generally reactive and costly. While serving as a Fellow of the Museum’s Center for the Prevention of Genocide, Dr. Andrew Marx tested a more proactive and cost-effective approach to using satellite imagery to detect mass human rights violations.

  • Do We Have a Responsibility to Protect?

    In a wide ranging conversation, Mike Abramowitz, director of the Museum's Center for the Prevention of Genocide, and former presidential special envoy to Sudan, Richard Williamson, conclude unequivocally that policymakers and citizens all have a responsibility to act when faced with genocide or mass atrocities.