In order to examine the Rwandan Genocide in the context of failed international intervention, I have chosen to look at the Genocide from a Realist perspective. The Realist paradigm focuses on states and their influence in the global sphere. Realists believe that states are only driven by power and that their policies therefore reflect these desires for power. States want to secure their security and the longevity of their nation and their ideologies. Waltz portrays this paradigm quite simply by stating:
Nations in 1945 was marked by an international outcry to ‘never again’ idly bear witness to the genocidal atrocities capable of man, as so harshly revealed in the nature of the Holocaust. In doing so, all member states actively sought to facilitate discussion in the United Nations as a world forum, in order to achieve both international and intra-national security. While the United Nations has achieved various successes in the international community, the international entity and its’ member states
Genocide has the potential to occur in any society, however it commonly transpires under particular conditions. Gregory Stanton’s eight stages of genocide are designed to identify early warning signs and implement specific countermeasures to prevent genocide. The Rwandan genocide in 1994 was applicable to all stages of Gregory Stanton’s model however the model does not acknowledge and identify the underlying causes that triggered the initial stages of genocide. The key factors that influenced
With over eight hundred thousand to one million deaths, the Rwandan genocide is undoubtedly one of the most sad and shocking examples of the lack of intervention by not only the US and the UN, but by other countries as well. The ongoing tensions between the Hutu, the largest population in Rwanda, and the Tutsi, the smaller and more elite population is what eventually lead to the Rwandan genocide. The killings began quickly after President Habyarimana 's plane was shot down. After hundreds of thousands
The Rwandan Genocide began on April 6th 1994 culminating in the killing of an estimated 800,000 Hutus and their sympathizers. After it became apparent that the Rwandan government was not willing or able to protect it 's citizens, the question became why did the international community do nothing to intervene. Rwandan citizens’ lived under the premise, that their rights are protected under UN accords and treaties. The Genocide Convention of 1948, outlined the responsibilities of the participating
NATIONS ON THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE A Study in History, Lee Ann Yates, Advisor By Sheetal Chakka 00837-0097 13 August 2015 Sheetal Chakka Lee Ann Yates IB Extended Essay 13 August 2015 The Effect of Ignorance by Developed Nations on the Rwandan Genocide The year 1994. A poor, east African country. A fractured government entering a period of drastic turmoil. It was truly the perfect, ideal setting for the biggest genocide in history since that of World War II, the Rwandan Genocide. Much of the
Proceeding from Kant’s philosophical perspective, humans are moral agents due to their ability to rationalize, reason and be autonomous. In order to make the claim that the international community is morally unjustified in their lack of action regarding the Rwandan genocide is because humanitarian intervention can be regarded as a perfect duty when approached from a Kantian perspective. This ideology is challenging for many critics because if this is a perfect duty then comes the question of who
within the context of the 1994 Rwandan genocide also referred to as the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. This focus is understandable as over one million died within a three-month period. It resulted in a dramatic shift from past history as the nation tried to rebuilt itself socially through the context of a united ethnicity of ‘Rwandan’ rather than previous ethnic divisions of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. For many researchers, the ‘new’ Rwanda began with the ending of the genocide. Over the past twenty-two years
the older ex-members. Perhaps the Hitler Youth members played the roles of enforcers of the killing program and pressured others into doing the same. A further demonstration of latent prejudice in twentieth century societies contributing to genocide is the lack of large-scale support for the Jews from outsiders. According to Shlomo Aronson, the Allied Powers had influence in the Holocaust and could have taken steps to lessen the plight of the Jews, but instead turned a blind eye (Aronson, pp.266)
from the international institution, like the United Nations. As evident through the events in Rwanda, all members of the United Nation Security Council expressed their concerns and sadness about the human rights abuses in Rwanda by the Rwandan government, yet, when debating on the course of action, only a minority of the members actually supported humanitarian intervention in Rwanda. The violations on the principle of human rights in Rwanda were ignored as several council members cited the lack of funds