Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Discusses Genocide Prevention at GW

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talked about combating genocide in an April 7 visit to the Elliott School of International Affairs.

Ending genocide is the responsibility of all countries in order to preserve “the dignity and rights of every human being,” said former U.S. Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright in a sold-out event at GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs April 7.

Albright discussed the findings from her work as co-chair of the Genocide Prevention Task Force, a bipartisan
group jointly convened by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy and
the U.S. Institute of Peace. After her remarks, she discussed her task force work further with Amb. Karl F. Inderfurth, GW John O. Rankin Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, and took questions from the audience.

Albright outlined the major recommendations from the task force’s report “Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers,” released last December, including “bolder leadership,” a renewal of alliances, and the implementation of crisis prevention into decision making. Albright stressed that crisis prevention should be part of the daily job description for the intelligence community, overseas military commanders and foreign service officers. “Although the goal of ending conflict completely is beyond any one person’s reach, the more versatile we are, the more effective we will be,” she said.

Albright, who worked to promote peace in conflictridden areas including Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Indonesia and Congo under the Clinton administration, told the audience that the “kindling of crisis” exists in myriad places worldwide. “Conflict could
result from the absence of a strong central government, as in Somalia, or the presence of an oppressive regime, as in Burma,” said Albright.

“It might stem from the lack of a democratic electoral process as in North Korea or the aftermath of a disputed election as in Zimbabwe or Kenya. It might involve a violation of sovereignty as between Russia and Georgia or the use of sovereignty to facilitate genocide as in Sudan. Sometimes we may see a fire starting and still have few realistic ways to douse the flame, but often we can act in time if we have the knowledge and the will to do so.”

An in-depth understanding of the people and cultures involved is also crucial to halting genocide, she stressed. “If we are truly to anticipate dangers instead of just reacting,
we must probe deeply into the histories, cultures and personalities involved in a particular situation,” said Albright. “We must inquire into the motives of those who threaten violence, into the character of their leaders, the origins of their grievances,
the nature of their decisionmaking and the possible pathways to compromise.”

Albright said critics who call intervention “imperialism” and argue that countries are
not obligated to act when genocide occurs outside their borders are “just wrong.”
“The fate of innocent people today should not be determined by unresolved anger in the past or efforts to obtain political leverage in other areas,” she said. “Stopping genocide is everybody’s business and we must be in that business together and work to have it succeed... Genocide must never be accepted and the United States and every other
country has an obligation to prevent it from ever happening again.”

The event was sponsored by the Banville Forum, which is presented in memory of
Robert Banville.

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