Can an understanding of the relationship between armed conflict and mass murder prevent future holocausts?
With at least six countries — the Sudan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Algeria, and Afghanistan — considered at “very high risk” for genocide, it is especially urgent that we attempt to identify and then understand the motivating factors leading to genocidal movements and the activators allowing these atrocities to occur. Only then can we begin to create a means by which to prevent and intervene in genocide. Central to this task is the ongoing discussion of the interdependence and intricate interplay of warfare and genocide. At the crux of this debate are the notions of causality and temporal antecedence, i.e., the precise nature of their relationship. Is warfare a necessary precursor to genocide? Or does genocide in fact necessarily lead to warfare? Or is it perhaps the case that neither causal relationship necessarily exists? Many attempts to resolve this debate and determine the genesis of genocide in relation to conflict have hinged on the identification of th
