Genocide in the 21st Century
Remembering Rwanda, Confronting Darfur
April 5, 2005 With the memory of Rwanda still with us, with repeated acknowledgments from the Bush administration and Congress that genocide is taking place and with special sessions of the UN Security Council convened to tackle this problem, with broad public awareness, how is it that genocide continues in Darfur? Is it that no viable political or military options exist? Is the world no more prepared to stop genocide in the 21st century than it was in the 20th?
Video & Transcript • John Podesta: Video • Senator Jon Corzine: Video • Amb. Dr. Zac Nsenga: Video • Gayle Smith: Video • Q&A Session: Video • Transcript: Full text (PDF)
Note: All video provided in QuickTime (MPEG-4) format.
|
Panelists |
Jon S. Corzine is a U.S. Senator from New Jersey and a member of the Senate Banking Committee. He was elected to the Senate in November 2000, after serving as Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of the investment firm Goldman Sachs. He has been leading efforts in Congress to address the crisis in Darfur. He secured approval of a resolution calling the situation genocide. In addition, after traveling to Darfur himself, the Senator led a successful bipartisan effort to secure $75 million to support African Union peacekeeping troops. He is also the co-sponsor of the Darfur Accountability Act. |
|
|
Amb. Dr. Zac Nsenga is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Rwanda to the United States, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. Previously, he served as the Secretary General for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in charge of the National Police and Prisons. He was Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Nordic countries from June of 1996 until September of 2000. From 1995 until April of 1996, Dr. Nsenga served as Ambassador to Israel. Born in Byumba, Rwanda, Dr. Nsenga earned his medical degree from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. He also holds a Masters degree in diplomatic studies from the University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. |
|
|
John Podesta is the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Podesta served as Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001, where he was responsible for directing, managing, and overseeing all policy development, daily operations, Congressional relations, and staff activities of the White House. He coordinated the work of cabinet agencies with a particular emphasis on the development of federal budget and tax policy, and served in the President’s Cabinet and as a Principal on the National Security Council. From 1997 to 1998 he served as both an Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff. Earlier, from January 1993 to 1995, he was Assistant to the President, Staff Secretary and a Senior Policy Adviser on government information, privacy, telecommunications security and regulatory policy. Podesta is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Knox College. |
|
|
Gayle Smith is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. She has spent most of her career in the field, based in Africa for almost 20 years as a journalist and advisor to non-governmental organizations. Her areas of expertise include economic development, crisis prevention, and post-conflict reconstruction. From 1998-2000, she served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council. Prior to that, she served for five years as Senior Adviser to the Administrator and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Agency for International Development. |
|