Check out this interesting piece on genocide prevention by Tod Lindberg in the Wall Street Journal. His reflections on trying to get some semblance of cooperation and coordination between the various regional and international organizations who could, collectively, have pulled together the resources needed for civilian protection in Darfur, fits depressingly well with everything I have heard in my interviews to date. Lindberg summarizes:
“The chief fact we found as we tried to manage the rules of the international system in 2005 was a high level of dysfunctionality. Nobody really knew what was on the minds of the key players in the African Union. The United Nations secretary-general didn’t know what was possible at NATO. NATO itself was uncertain about getting involved in Africa. Some Europeans seemed more interested in protecting their African turf than in action that might help those at risk. Meanwhile, the only organization that seemed genuinely interested in taking action, the African Union, was hobbled by a grievous lack of resources and capacity, and didn’t know how or whom to ask for help.”
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