W2I
Encyclopedia
The Will to Intervene Project is a research initiative created by Lieut. General (retired) Roméo Dallaire
, Senior Fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS), and Dr. Frank Chalk, MIGS Director that aims to operationalize the principles of the Responsibility to Protect within national governments.
The project describes itself as follows:
Roméo Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...
, Senior Fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS), and Dr. Frank Chalk, MIGS Director that aims to operationalize the principles of the Responsibility to Protect within national governments.
The Report
Led by researcher Kyle Matthews, more than 80 interviews were conducted with high-level policy-makers, members of Congress, parliamentarians, NGO representatives, and journalists in Canada and the United States, some for the first time on record. These interviews culminated in the publication of a policy report, Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities, in September 2009. This report was disseminated amongst the highest levels of the American and Canadian governments, think tanks, and non-governmental organisations. The report was subsequently re-edited and published as a book in 2010.The project describes itself as follows:
The fundamental goal the W2I report, entitled Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities, is to identify strategic and practical steps to raise the capacity of government officials, legislators, civil servants, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), advocacy groups, journalists, and media owners and managers to build the political will to prevent mass atrocities. The report provides practical policy recommendations to make this goal a reality. The report draws on interviews with more than 80 foreign policy practitioners and opinion shapers in Canada and the United States. Many of the interviewees participated directly in Canadian and American government decision making during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and the 1999 Kosovo crisis, which exemplify a failure to act and a strong will to act. The W2I Project’s researchers also wanted to understand what civil society groups and the news media could have done to ramp up the pressure on Prime Minister Chrétien and President Clinton to save lives in Rwanda. They wanted to learn if civil society played a role in the decisions of Canada and the United States to preserve lives in Kosovo and what considerations propelled the decision to intervene. They designed their questions with an eye to the future, hunting for “lessons learned,” informed not only by their interviews, but also by scholarly studies of Canadian and U.S. Government policies. The report was made public in Canada on 22 September, 2009. The Canadian parliamentary launch occurred on 1 October and featured distinguished panel of experts who discussed W2I’s policy recommendations for the benefit of parliamentarians.
The W2I project assembled a Research Steering Committee consisting of a distinguished group of prominent American and Canadian foreign policy experts and politicians to guide the researchers. The members include Maurice BarilMaurice BarilJoseph Gérard Maurice Baril, CMM, MSM, CD is a retired General officer in the Canadian Forces, a Military Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General & head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations from 1992 to 1997, and Chief of the Defence...
, Ed BroadbentEd BroadbentJohn Edward "Ed" Broadbent, is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.-Life...
, Fred C. Fischer, Tom Flanagan, Robert FowlerRobert FowlerRobert Fowler may refer to:* Robert Fowler , bishop in the Church of Ireland* Robert Fowler , English artist* Robert Fowler , American marathoner...
, Yoine GoldsteinYoine GoldsteinYoine J. Goldstein is a Canadian Jewish lawyer, academic, and former Senator.Born in Montreal, Quebec, his education includes a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in 1955, a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University in 1958, and a Doctor of Laws from the Université de Lyon in 1960. He...
, Bill GrahamBill GrahamWilliam Carvel "Bill" Graham, PC QC is a former Canadian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, and Leader of the Opposition and interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.-Personal life:...
, David A. Hamburg, Ted Koppel, Juan É. Méndez, Alex NeveAlex NeveRobert Alexander Neve, OC is a Canadian human rights activist and the Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada.Born in Calgary, Alberta, the son of Robert Rex Neve and Jean Elizabeth Taylor, Neve received a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1984 and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1987 from...
, André PratteAndré PratteAndré Pratte is a journalist and economist. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of the Montreal large-circulation newspaper La Presse. In Quebec, he is a notable voice of the Quebec federalist ideology....
, Kenneth Prewitt, David SchefferDavid SchefferDavid John Scheffer is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the first United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, during President Bill Clinton's second term in office. He currently teaches at the Northwestern University School of Law, where he directs the Center for...
, Hugh D. Segal, Jennifer Allen Simons, Janice Gross Stein, Allan Thompson, Thomas G. Weiss, and Harvey Yarosky.
The Book
In September 2010, the report was edited and published as a book by McGill-Queens University Press. The book version of the Will to Intervene Report was reviewed by Dr Ramesh Thakur in the Literary Review of Canada (December, 2010) , and replied to by the Will to Intervene authors in the subsequent issue (January 2011).
Support for W2I
Since the publication of the report, the Will to Intervene project has continued to try to raise awareness amongst policy makers in the USA and Canada about the crucial importance of genocide prevention as opposed to reaction. The W2I presented the report’s recommendations to American policy makers at the United States Institute of Peace on 21 September 2009. They subsequently conducted a panel discussion on 1 October 2009 on Parliament Hill, putting forward the case for genocide prevention as a national priority to Members of Parliament and Senators.
The Obama Administration has put in place two of the recommendations argued in the report. In May 2010, President Obama’s National Security StrategyNational Security StrategyNational Security Strategy may refer to—* National Security Strategy * National Security Strategy * National Security Strategy...
stated a commitment to proactive engagement in preventing mass atrocities and genocide. And then in June 2010, National Security Advisor James L. JonesJames L. JonesJames Logan Jones, Jr. is the former United States National Security Advisor and a retired United States Marine Corps General....
, created an Interagency Policy Committee on Preventing Mass Atrocities . In addition, the US Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 71 supporting genocide prevention, a resolution which the W2I team helped to draft .
In order to garner further support for genocide prevention, the W2I team has conducted policy briefings, presentations and civic dialogues in order to diffuse the report’s findings across North America. On the 27th November, 2009, W2I carried out a civic dialogue in Vancouver, to which numerous politicians from all levels of government, business people, academics, NGO directors, journalists and religious leaders and public intellectuals attended .Through this interactive medium, W2I managed to garner the support of a large variety of influential people, leading to a Municipal Proclamation by the Mayor Gregor RobertsonGregor RobertsonGregor Aedan Robertson is a Scottish footballer who plays for Chesterfield. His favoured position is left-back but he can also play on the left side of midfield and more recently has enjoyed a successful spell at centre back....
of Vancouver calling 12 November 2010 "Will to Intervene Day" . The Will to Intervene Project plans to undertake more of these civic dialogues in the future across North America in order to inform and galvanize groups of local, influential and interested people who can promote the Will to Intervene Project at all levels of government .
The Project has gained support from numerous organisations, including the Genocide Prevention Group, an All-Party group of Canadian members of parliament , and the Canadian Federation of University Women and the student-led anti-genocide group STAND .
New Studies
Now that the diffusion of the W2I report’s findings in Canada and the United States is well under way, the W2I project is setting its sights further afield. The project plans to help set up similar research initiatives in South Africa and the United Kingdom
External Links
http://migs.concordia.ca
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIKJhVv7JJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDGqG2GtEvU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABiv0tDVMgQ