Today, 24 years after hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were systematically slaughtered by their own countrymen, the genocide still casts its shadow over the country. Many of the bodies are yet to be found, a lot of the perpetrators remain at large and ethnic killings are not entirely a thing of the past (Pelz & Corbett, 2009). For the international Community, Rwanda is a painful reminder of the consequences of failing to act. Despite having a peace keeping force in the country, the UN and the main western powers did little to prevent such an atrocity. Many have called out the UNSC, and the countries involved, for looking the other way at the time of the events. On their defence, it has been argued that International Community received confusing signals until it was too late. This displaced the blame from decision makers to the Intelligence Community, where the mechanisms necessary to activate reaction are found.
Failure to act: the Rwandan genocide and the International Community