The United Nations and Genocide

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was the first human rights treaty adopted by the United Nations, reflecting the global commitment to 'never again' in the wake of the Holocaust. Seven decades on, The United Nations and Genocide examines how the UN has met, and failed to meet, the commitment to 'prevent and punish' the crime of genocide. It explores why the UN was unable to respond effectively to the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, the Balkans and Darfur, and considers new approaches recently adopted by the UN to address genocide. This volume asks the crucial question: can the UN protect peoples from genocide in the modern world?

Deborah Mayersen is Vice-Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Transformation Research, University of Wollongong, Australia. Deborah's recent publications include On the Path to Genocide: Armenia and Rwanda Reexamined (2014) and (co-edited with Annie Pohlman) Genocide and Mass Atrocities in Asia: Legacies and Prevention (2013).