A System, Society, and Community Perspective on Genocide

The question of why the international community continually fails to prevent genocide remains an ever-present concern. Genocide scholars question how the political will of the politically unwilling remains unaltered by the genocides in Rwanda and Darfur. However, it appears that little consideration has been given to the fact that genocide is open to interpretation. By this I mean that all scholars and policy makers have a view of the world which shapes their understanding of genocide within it. This is important because it helps explain why actors at the international level perceive genocide prevention in a radically different light from one another. With this in mind, the article uses the concepts of an international system, an international society, and an international community to demonstrate how one’s worldview has implications on how one understands genocide. These three perspectives help underline the complexities involved as genocide prevention remains dependent on a consensus being forged among actors who do not share a common worldview.