The Will to Intervene Project

Frank Chalk, Director of MIGS

Kyle Matthews, Senior Deputy Director of the Will to Intervene Project

December 13, 2011

Genocide Prevention Group

Parliament of Canada

A new world disorder: Enter W2I

• In 2011 Mass Atrocity Crimes are a constant news item: South Sudan, Darfur, Libya, Syria, Ivory Coast, DRC, Zimbabwe

The Will to Intervene Project

• Looks at what national governments can do to better prevent and interdict mass atrocity crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and war crimes)

• Structural problems found in democratic societies: short term thinking

The W2I Project

• You can’t solve current problems with current thinking. Current problems are the result of current thinking.

- Albert Einstein

Key Message

States, especially democratic and multicultural ones, must

incorporate the prevention of mass atrocities into their definition of the “National

Interest”

The Public Policy Implications of Mass Atrocities in a

Globalized era

•Global capacity problem: countries have done little to build the capacity and infrastructure for action•Advocates of action have relied too much on the moral/humanitarian and legal•Threat based outcomes of inaction• Public health, Security, Prosperity, Social Cohesion

Canada needs to:

• Have a senior member of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet appointed to serve as the focal point for Canada’s efforts to prevent mass atrocities.

• Create an interdepartmental Coordinating Office for the Prevention of Mass Atrocitie

Canada needs to

• Establish standard operating procedures for disseminating intelligence concerning the risks of mass atrocities throughout the whole of government

• Establish a Canadian Prevention Corps• Increase its diplomatic and development

presence in fragile countries

Canada needs to (cont’d):

• Continue enhancing the Canadian Forces’ capabilities by increasing its force strength and developing operational concepts, doctrine, force structure, and training to support civilian protection.

What MPs Need to Know

• Folly to be UN centric: UN has little to no enforcement capacity

U.S. Leadership • Obama Administration

• Created the senior position of Director for War Crimes, Atrocities, and Civilian Protection, at the National Security Council

• Established an Atrocity Prevention Committee within the National Security Council.

• Mass atrocity prevention mentioned in strategic policy documents

• Presidential Study Directive announced on August 4 2011 to create Interagency Atrocity Prevention Board

• Disarming the LRA

U.S. Leadership (cont’d)• U.S. Congress

• On August 5, 2010 Senators Russ Feingold and Susan Collins, with the support of 19 other Senators, introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 71.

• The resolution recognized “the United States national interest in helping to prevent and mitigate acts of genocide and other mass atrocities against civilians, and supporting and encouraging efforts to develop a whole of government approach to prevent and mitigate such acts.”

U.S. Leadership (cont’d)• U.S. Congress

• In early December 2011, a bipartisan group of 29 senators sent a letter to President Obama offering to form a partnership in anticipating, preventing, and responding to genocide and other mass atrocities. In it the groups of Senators support improving U.S. capacity to prevent and respond to mass atrocity crimes.

Kyle Matthews: Political Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities

Contact Information

Kyle Matthews Email: kylematt@alcor.concordia.ca

Frank Chalk Email: drfrank@alcor.concordia.ca

MIGS Telephone: 514 848-2424 ext 5729