Legally Preventing Genocide

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a fascinating look at the life of of Raphael Lemkin and his efforts to end genocide after the death of his family at Treblinka:

The achievements of Lemkin and Cassin have had little effect on the way governments respond to genocide. As Samantha Power showed scathingly in her 2002 book, A Problem From Hell, the United States has consistently tiptoed around using what President Bill Clinton called “the G-word,” wary of taking the responsibility of stopping it. Clinton should know: He was slow to deal with the catastrophe in Rwanda, and though he did ultimately support military action to stop the killings in Bosnia, it was not before the Serbs had committed genocidal crimes. The record is clear: The Genocide Convention hasn’t stopped killers from massacring their victims. Genocide prevention remains a goal, not a reality.