Atrocities Prevention Board

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Atrocities Prevention Board

Background, Performance, and Options

By John Norris and Annie Malknecht June 13, 2013


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Atrocities Prevention BoardBackground, Performance, and Options

By John Norris and Annie Malknecht June 13, 2013


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1 Introduction and summary

3 Atrocities Prevention Board: Background and structure

13 Atrocities Prevention Board: Performance

27 Conclusion

29 Timeline of the Atrocities Prevention Board

33 Endnotes

Contents


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Introdction and smmary | www.americanproress.

Introduction and summary

A litle more han a year ago, Presiden Barack Obama, during an address a he

U.S. Holocaus Memorial Museum in Washingon, D.C., announced he creaion

o he Arociies Prevenion Board, a Whie House-led iniiaive ha would make

he deerrence o genocide and mass arociies a core naional securiy ineres

and core moral responsibiliy.1 Te presidens remarks signaled ha he preven-

ion o wholesale violence would be a key ocus o his adminisraions oreign

policy as he said, Were making sure ha he Unied Saes governmen has he

srucures, he mechanisms o beter preven and respond o mass arociies.2

Te Arociies Prevenion Board, or APB, a sanding ineragency commitee led

ou o he Whie House, is he cornersone o his eor.

Wih he APB having jus compleed is rs anniversary and he nominaion

o Samanha Power o be U.N. ambassador, i is a useul ime o ake sock. Tis

repor deails he hisory o he Arociies Prevenion Board and is curren unc-

ions, assesses is relaive accomplishmens and challenges o dae, and ariculaes

a series o alernaives or how he APB migh be insiuionally organized and

unded o bes ensure ha arociy prevenion wihin he U.S governmen is made

boh more eecive and enduring.

Te Arociies Prevenion Boards record o dae is decidedly mixed. On he posi-

ive side o he ledger, he APB has been highly acive in is work, and i has helped

ocus paricipaing agencies on arociy prevenion in imporan ways. Perhaps he

boards mos noable successes have come in geting agencies ha have radiion-

ally paid litle atenion o arociy prevenion, such as he Deparmens o he

reasury and Jusice, o develop new ools o pursue major human-righs abusers.

Te board has also done an admirable job working on imporan srucural issues,such as employee raining, ha have he poenial o yield signican benes over

he long erm. By almos every accoun, APB members have been highly moi-

vaed and dedicaed o heir shared ask.


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2 Center or American Proress | Atrocities Prevention Board: Bacrond, Perormance, and Options

Bu here are also serious concerns. Firs and oremos, he coninuing ragedy in

Syria has cas a pall over he boards work and has led many o sharply quesion is

overall ecacy. In par because o he Syria siuaion, he board has also been rou-

blingly relucan o engage Congress and ouside groups regarding is aciviies.

Alhough his has improved somewha in recen monhs, he board sill operaes

wih a level o minimal ransparency, and is relucance o share unclassied nd-ings regarding is work ulimaely makes ha work less eecive.

Because he Arociies Prevenion Board commited isel o being budge neu-

ral when i was esablished and i is chaired a he Naional Securiy Council, or

NSC, he board has also encounered some challenging operaional limis as i has

begun is work. I remains unclear wheher he APB has sucien public, insiu-

ional, and congressional suppor o survive a change o adminisraion.

Tis repor also proposes a number o budge and operaional alernaives or he

board going orward, ranging rom largely mainaining he saus quo o shi-ing where he APB is chaired and housed. A a bare minimum, he Arociies

Prevenion Board will need o carry ou is uncions more ransparenly, and

he adminisraion should esablish a biparisan oversigh mechanism or is

operaions.


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Atrocities Prevention Board: Bacrond and strctre | www.americanproress.

Atrocities Prevention Board:

Background and structure

Background

Since a series o complex conics emerged in he immediae wake o he Cold

Warmos noably hose in Rwanda and he ormer Yugoslavia in he early

1990she Unied Saes and is parners in he inernaional communiy have

grappled wih he challenge o prevening genocide and mass arociies.

Much has changed and improved wihin he inernaional sysem since he early1990s, bu progress has remained uneven. Largely eecive inernaional diplo-

maic, humaniarian, and miliary inervenions in places such as Sierra Leone,

Eas imor, Kosovo, Bosnia, and Libya signicanly symied mass arociies. Tere

has also been a major sep orward wih he developmen o he Responsibiliy o

Proec docrine, hrough which U.N. member saes have acknowledged ha sov-

ereigny is no only a righ bu also a responsibiliy and ha governmens should

no be allowed o abuse heir ciizenries wih impuniy. In addiion, he esablish-

men o he Inernaional Criminal Cour has represened he rs exended eor

by he inernaional communiy o hold perperaors o war crimes, crimes agains

humaniy, and genocide o accoun.

Ta said, and while never again has been he wachword o many poliicians and

aciviss, mass arociies have remained a persisenly recurring phenomenon on

he global scene, including in siuaions such as Darur, he Democraic Republic

o he Congo, and now in Syria.

In 2007 a Genocide Prevenion ask Force, co-chaired by ormer Secreary o

Sae Madeleine Albrigh and ormer Secreary o Deense William Cohen, was

esablished. Te Genocide Prevenion ask Force published is recommendaionsin December 2008. Concluding ha prevening genocide was an achievable goal,

he ask orce recommended he creaion o a new high-level ineragency body

an Arociies Prevenion Commiteeha would improve he U.S. governmen

crisis-response sysems, beter equip he governmen o moun coheren and


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imely prevenive diplomacy sraegies, and prepare ineragency genocide-preven-

ion and response plans or high-risk siuaions.3

Te iming o he ask orces repor was clearly inended o inuence he incom-

ing Obama adminisraion. Shorly aer enering oce, Presiden Obama

appoined Samanha Power as his special adviser or mulilaeral aairs, uelingspeculaion ha he arociy-prevenion agenda would occupy a cenral place in

he adminisraions approach o oreign policy. Known as an ouspoken champion

or human righs and genocide prevenion, Power won a Pulizer Prize in 2003 or

her book,A Problem om Hell, which explored he challenge he U.S. governmen

aces in genocide prevenion.

Te Naional Securiy Sraegy, published in May 2010, made he rs explici

reerence o improving he Unied Saes response o mass arociies, laying he

oundaion or oher adminisraion acions o ollow. In discussing he siuaion

in Sudan, he documen saed:

Te Unied Saes is commited o working wih our allies and o srenghen-

ing our own capabiliies in a sraegic eor o preven mass arociies and

genocide In he even ha prevenion ails, he Unied Saes will work

mulilaerally and bilaerally o mobilize diplomaic, humaniarian, fnancial,

andin cerain insancesmiliary means o preven and respond o genocide

and mass arociies.4

In addiion, he U.S. Senae passed Concurren Resoluion 71 in December 2010

wih biparisan suppor, assering ha i was in he naional ineres o work wih

inernaional parners and esablish an ineragency policy group o work on mass-

arociy and genocide prevenion.5

Te Obama adminisraions hinking on mass-arociy prevenion was mos

clearly crysalized wih he Augus 2011 release o is Presidenial Sudy Direcive

on Mass Arociy Prevenion, or PSD-10, o which Power was he lead auhor.

Te direcive called or he esablishmen o an ineragency arociies-prevenion

mechanism; is primary purpose would be o coordinae a whole o governmen

approach o prevening mass arociies and genocide.6

Creaing a sanding ineragency commitee on arociy prevenion was an inerna-

ional rs, or which he Obama adminisraion deserves credi. PSD-10 graned

he ineragency group he auhoriy o develop prevenion sraegies based on early


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warning signs o ensure ha concerns are elevaed or senior decision-making.7

Te direcive ordered ocials o conduc a review o he exising ools available o

he U.S. governmen o engage early, proacively, and decisively on mass-arociy

issues wihin 100 days. Te direcive hen called or he esablishmen o an iner-

agency prevenion board wihin 20 days aer he review was compleed.8

Te direcive made clear ha i viewed arociy prevenion across a broad spec-

rum o aciviies and rejeced he noion ha miliary responses were he only

appropriae ool or dealing wih such siuaions. PSD-10 argeed sancions, visa

bans, and enhanced civilian surge capabiliies as poenial ools ha migh need o

be developed o beter suppor arociy prevenion. PSD-10 also explicily barred,

or he rs ime, he admission o he Unied Saes o perperaors or anyone

suspeced o being complici in mass arociies.

Civil sociey responded wih enhusiasm o he release o PSD-10. Human Righs

Wach, Human Righs Firs, and he Friends Commitee on Naional Legislaion,among ohers, released saemens srongly supporing he presidens decision o

elevae he arociy-prevenion agenda. Tere was no consensus among he groups

abou he conours o an agenda moving orward, bu as om Malinowski o

Human Righs Wach said, hese direcives should help o overcome he bureau-

craic resisance and indierence ha oen delays seps ha migh preven such

caasrophes in he rs place.9

Making he APB operaional, however, ook longer han planned. Insead o being

esablished wihin 120 days per he PSD-10 direcive, i ook some 263 days

beore he APB was ormally up and running.10 While delays in implemening

presidenial direcives are no uncommon, his also suggess ha he eam work-

ing on he APB a he Naional Securiy Council underesimaed he complex-

iy o insiuional ineress and concerns relaed o esablishing such a sanding

ineragency mechanism.

When Presiden Obama launched he Arociies Prevenion Board in April 2012,

he emphasized ha based on he PSD-10 direcive he APBs mandae was o lead

a comprehensive review o assess he U.S. governmens ani-arociy capabiliies,

and recommend reorms ha would ll idenied gaps in hese capabiliies.11

Te inelligence communiy was asked wih producing a Naional Inelligence

Esimae on he global risk or mass arociies, and he reasury Deparmen was

called upon o expand is sancions program o include suspeced human-righs

abusers. Te Sae Deparmen was direced o engage mulilaeral sakeholders


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o preven mass arociies rom occurring and help esablish beter and improved

raining or hose engaged in peacekeeping so ha hey could more eecively

recognize he early signs o poenial mass arociies.

Having Presiden Obama so personally engaged in he APBs rollou signaled

commimen o addressing mass arociies a he senior-mos level and sen avery clear message o he agencies paricipaing in he APB ha his was o be an

imporan Whie House prioriy. A he same ime, he presidens direc involve-

men also pu considerable pressure on he APB o produce resuls quickly a

a ime when, by necessiy, i would need o be engaged in deermining is basic

organizaion and uncions.

In many ways, he APB was an unusual creaion. In erms o process, i uncions

in he same ashion as scores o oher iner-agency policy commitees esablished

over he years on everyhing rom rade o climae change o healh care where

represenaives rom dieren governmen deparmens come ogeher o hash oumuual policy concerns a a senior level. Ye, wha made he APB unusual was ha

i was given a ormal name, a ormal mandae by he presiden hrough an execuive

review, and a high prole rollou. Te adminisraion discussed he APB as i i was

an eniy raher han a process, and many people in he ouside communiy came o

view i in ha ligh.

Former special adviser Power, or example, repeaedly sressed during he rollou

ha he APB would be budge neuralin oher words, he APB would no cre-

ae any sang or nancial demands upon he paricipaing agencies beyond wha

hey were already being appropriaed. Such language would seem o be unneces-

sary i he adminisraion perceived he APB simply o be a process or communi-

caion beween agencies. Te emphasis on budge neuraliy made sense rom a

shor-erm acical perspecive: Te APB was more likely o ge a warm welcome

on Capiol Hill i i was no seen as a cosly piece o new archiecure a a ime o

considerable budge auseriy. From a long-erm perspecive, his emphasis on low-

cos operaions made less sense. Cerainly, i arociy prevenion is undamenally

in he naions sraegic and moral ineres, hen i should ollow ha here are imes

as a naion ha we will suppor i even i i is no budge neural. (Indeed, i is di-

cul o hink o any oher area idenied as a naional sraegic imperaive where iwas required ha he mission be achieved on a budge-neural basis.) Furhermore,

he emphasis on budge neuraliy pu he APB in somehing o a box. I he APB

were o be ruly budge neural, hen i would no be in a posiion o sa isel wih

any kind o expanded secrearia and would insead rely on a handul o dedicaed


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personnel a he NSC working in conjuncion wih he paricipaing agencies o

carry ou normal operaions. As an ineragency commitee, here would be no

obvious places o park resources i he APB was expanding or rening is scope o

work. Te APB had volunarily imposed a ceiling on is operaions.

Consequenly, he Arociies Prevenion Board does no currenly receive anyunding as an independen eniy. Given he impac o sequesraion and oher

budge-ighening measures across governmen agencies, agencies will likely prove

relucan o make more unding available or APB-relaed aciviies, and he APB

will likely coninue o ry o inegrae is approaches ino exising work sreams

raher han aking on new iniiaives. Boh he Genocide Prevenion ask Force

repor and Concurren Resoluion 71 called or more exible coningency crisis

unding, and he Complex Crises Fund, which gives boh he Sae Deparmen

and he U.S Agency or Inernaional Developmen, or USAID, discreionary

unds o preven and respond o emergency or unoreseen crises, was creaed in

2010. Funding levels or he Complex Crises Fund have ranged rom $40 milliono $50 million annually since is incepion, signicanly below adminisraion

requess. Te links beween he und and APB prioriies are no enirely clear,

alhough USAID has noed ha i is currenly in he process o looking a how i

will disburse hese unds o ensure ha i bes mainsreams arociy-prevenion

eors across he agency. I remains unlikely ha any new pool o exible unding

will be creaed in he shor erm.

Te APB consiss o high-ranking represenaives rom 11 agencies, including

heDeparmens o Sae, Deense, reasury, Jusice, and Homeland Securiy;he Join Sa; USAID; he U.S. Mission o he Unied Naions; he Oce o he

Direcor o Naional Inelligence; he Cenral Inelligence Agency, or CIA; and

he Oce o he Vice Presiden. I was led by Power in her role as special adviser

or mulilaeral aairs a he Naional Securiy Council unil February 2013, when

Sephen Pomper succeeded her. A he APBs launch even on April 23, 2012, is

members were inroduced and previewed heir prioriies. In erms o immediae

crises, he siuaions in Syria and he Sudan-Souh Sudan were menioned repea-

edly, bu APB members largely waned o avoid responding o immediae prob-

lems and insead looked oward he uure or prevenion sraegies. Te paneliss

said ha improving raining or relevan personnelincluding diplomas andmembers o he inelligence communiy, among ohersand insiuionalizing

a procedure or arociies prevenion would be heir op prioriies. Maria Oero,

ormer under secreary o sae or democracy and global aairs, assered ha

raining civil servans would be a opline objecive or he APB.12 USAID Depuy


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Adminisraor Donald Seinberg repored ha a he rs APB meeing, consen-

sus was reached o inegrae ineragency personnel raining so hey have miliary,

inelligence, and diplomaic knowledge.13

While APB panel members are assigned by heir respecive agency heads, i is also

imporan o noe ha Power was able o pull ogeher an iniial group o APBpanel members rom he respecive agencies wih whom she was amiliar and who

were already largely recognized or heir commimen and experise in dealing

wih arociy prevenion. Again, his approach has proven o be a double-edged

sword. While i has ensured high-qualiy represenaion on he APB rom he

respecive agencies and has involved highly moivaed people dedicaed o making

he APB work, i may be problemaic over he long erm as individuals roae on

and o o he APB. Because agencies were no given a se level or posiion or heir

involvemen wih he APB, he represenaion rom agencies may become highly

uneven over ime.

While he human-righs communiy warmly welcomed he APB, i came under

sharp criicism shorly aer is launch, paricularly rom Sen. John McCain

(R-AZ). Sen. McCain criicized he Obama adminisraion or announcing he

ormaion o he APB while ailing o ake more robus acion o address he

civil war in Syria.14 Te APBs oher criics, largely rom he righ, echoed Sen.

McCains evaluaion and also complained ha esablishing a board in he mids o

a crisis was ineecual and ha he APB would add jus anoher layer o bureau-

cracy o an already overworked governmen.15

Te human-righs and peacebuilding communiy, while pleased by he orma-

ion o he APB, has been vexed by he relaive lack o communicaion rom he

adminisraion regarding he ongoing aciviies and purpose o he APB. Indeed,

as soon as he APB was announced, i largely vanished rom he public discourse,

and i appeared ha he APBs leadership had made a conscious decision o main-

ain as low a prole as possible wih civil sociey, Congress, and he mediaa

acical decision ha has no always served i well. In recen monhs he APB has

ried o engage ouside consiuencies more acively. A ew days aer he APBs

one-year anniversary, he Whie House published a deailed ac shee lising is

eors o preven mass arociies, including he ormaion o he APB. I was alsoannounced ha paricipaing agencies would hos consulaions wih civil-sociey

groups, he rs o which was hosed by USAID in May 2013. Sae Deparmen

ocials also recenly brieed congressional saers on he sae o he APB and

is work. Bu wih no regular public produc in erms o annual repors, hearings,


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or briengs, he APB remains vulnerable o simply being eliminaed a some laer

dae by an adminisraion wih diering prioriies. While aking a low-prole

approach has helped he APB avoid some poenial conroversies, i has also

mean ha ouside suppor or he board remains shallow.

Structure

Te APB and is associaed srucures currenly mee according o he ollowing

schedule:

Once a week, he sub-APB, made up o working-level sa rom he paricipa-

ing agencies, mees, led by he direcor o War Crimes and Arociy Issues a

he NSC. Tese discussions largely ocus on srucural arociy issues, such as

how o improve raining, raher han on specic regional hreas. Each agency

involved wih he APB has is own eam ha deals wih he sraegies and oolsnecessary o make arociy prevenion sronger, alhough he number o sa

commited o his eor varies widely by agency. Te Sae Deparmen and

USAID have he larges numbers o personnel involved. APB board member

Oero indicaed ha since Augus 2011 he Sae Deparmen has had a unc-

ioning ask orce comprising 30 people meeing weekly on arociy-prevenion

issues, wih smaller working groups looking a more specic issues. Oero

speculaed ha many o he oher deparmens involved have creaed similar

arrangemens. I is imporan, however, o recognize ha no all deparmens

will behave similarly in how hey approach heir sang relaed o he APB.

Te inelligence communiy, or example, has people commited ull ime o

monioring he risk o arociies or genocide in various counries, alhough hese

people may no be direcly linked o he work o he APB.

Once a monh, he APB mees a he assisan-secreary level wih each agencys

represenaive reporing on imporan poins raised during he weekly discus-

sions and ollowing up regarding assigned aciviies.

Quarerly, depuy principals gaher or a deep-dive analysis conduced on a

geographic basis. Wih he assisance o an inelligence-communiy brieng, hequarerly meeing is designed o drive a subsanial policy conversaion regard-

ing a counry o poenial concern. o dae, some o he counries eaured in

hese discussions have included Kenya, Burma, and Bangladesh. In selecing

counries or consideraion in such discussions, he APB has ried o ideniy


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counries a a medium-erm risk o mass arociiesin oher words, avoiding

hose counries already in he middle o subsanial conic or hose where he

poenial or arociies is an exceedingly long-erm prospec. Tese conversa-

ions are designed o mobilize atenion and resources wihin he respecive

agencies in an eor o aver arociies in he counries under discussion and o

pre-posiion resources and analysis so ha each agency would be beter pre-pared o respond o a nascen crisis wihin ha counry. While ambassadors may

no always appreciae having he counry o which hey are assigned be he sub-

jec o such a review, such counry-specic discussions do help sensiize ambas-

sadors and regional personnel o he risk acors associaed wih mass arociies

and likely encourage more energeic eors o aver such crises.

Finally, he nine principals a he assisan-secreary level also conduc an annual

review meeing, wih he mos recen o hese meeings aking place someime

in spring 2013.

Te Arociies Prevenion Board mandae requires ha he APB presen an annual

repor on is aciviies and successes o he presiden in January o each year.17 No

declassied version o his repor has been made available o Congress or o he

public. Mos ouside paries, including members o Congress, are unaware o is

conens or even is exisence. Providing he public wih a declassied version o

his repor and brieng Congress on he classied conens o he repor seems

like he bare-minimum level o ransparency o which he APB should aspire,

alhough he ac shee published by he W hie House in May 2013 did provide a

cursory overview o is work.18 reaing arociy prevenion wih a level o secrecy

similar o ha accorded o naional-inelligence reviews seems misguided.

Te APB was also mandaed o wrie an execuive order deailing he respon-

sibiliies ascribed o agencies in prevening uure mass arociies and ormally

insiuionalizing he board. Tis execuive order was being draed as his repor

was being nalized. I remains o be seen i any par o he execuive order will

be publicized, bu, again, i is dicul o undersand why he operaions o an

ineragency group dedicaed o prevening mass arociies should be shrouded in

secrecy. Indeed, such secrecy will only undercu suppor or he APBs work over

he long haul, and i prevens he APB rom leveraging civil-sociey knowledgeand experise o suppor is work.

Te srucure o he APB o dae highlighs a number o key operaional quesions.


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Atrocities Prevention Board: Bacrond and strctre | www.americanproress.o

Should the focus of the APBs work be driven by a geographic

or institutional focus?

Tus ar, he APB has looked a boh areas, considering specic counry cases

such as Kenya while also looking a broad insiuional issues, including raining

o personnel and adoping appropriae policy oolkis. Ta is no unreasonable.Bu here are some clear challenges wih regard o he APBs counry-specic

work. Firs, because he APB is a cenralized ineragency srucure run ou o he

Whie House, is work will almos cerainly engender a level o resenmen rom

ambassadors and heir embassy sas, who view hemselves as ully exper on

any given counry. Unless knowledge o how o preven arociies and conic

more broadly is more eecively mainsreamed across agencies, paricularly a he

Sae Deparmen, he APBs involvemen in seting counry-specic policies will

remain episodic and uneven. I also remains unclear how he APB will ollow up

over ime wih counries once hey have been brough up or a deep-dive analysis.

Over he course o ime, he APB will soon have a score o counries across dier-en regions on which i has conduced an analysis. Wha hen? Will here be a run-

ning, aer-acion review or each counry? Will a deerminaion be made when a

counry graduaes rom such a wach lis? Is he ime horizon he APB uses o look

a mass arociies oo near or oo ar?

Is the APB setting itself up for burnout?Mainaining a weekly schedule or sub-APB meeings is ambiious and may spark

backlash rom paricipaing agencies over imeparicularly hose agencies such

as he CIA ha eel hey are disproporionally carrying he analyical workload.19

Tis is no o argue agains a weekly eor o coordinae and discuss arociy pre-

venion; insead, i is a suggesion ha he work o he APB, unless suppored by

some commensurae level o resources or he paricipaing agencies, may lead o

he breakdown o he sysem over ime.

What is the APBs relation to the State Departments Conflict

and Stabilization Bureau?

Te Sae Deparmens Bureau o Conic and Sabilizaion Operaions, or

CSO, is charged wih advancing U.S. naional securiy by breaking cycles o

violen conic and miigaing crises in prioriy counries. Te CSO engages in


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conic prevenion, crisis response, and sabilizaion, all o which aim o address

he underlying causes o violence.20 Te CSO is saed wih conic-prevenion

expers who are deployed, usually as par o an ineragency eam, o help bolser

he abiliy o dieren embassies around he globe in responding o and preven-

ing conic. In many ways, he APB and he CSO have highly complemenary,

i no overlapping, mandaes. Ye boh srucures have sruggled a imes o gainpublic, congressional, and bureaucraic purchase, and boh have encounered

radiional oreign-service skepicism ha hey provide added value. Some clearer

raionalizaion o he relaionship beween hese wo srucures would be wel-

comed. Tose inerviewed or his paper expressed a wide variey o opinions

regarding he ideal relaionship beween he APB and he CSO, including wih

regard o srenghening he CSOs civilian-response capabiliies o include expers

on arociy prevenion.


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Atrocities Prevention Board: Perormance | www.americanproress.o

Atrocities Prevention Board:

Performance

Accomplishments and changes

In January 2013 he APB called is second-only meeing wih ouside groups o

provide updaes on is work.21 A ha session a represenaive rom each o he

paricipaing agencies was called upon o provide updaes on is APB-relaed work

since April 2012. One presener argued ha while he APB undersands ha he

human-righs communiy and he public in general migh like o see more inerac-

ion wih he board, no one waned o hear updaes on paper shufing wihin heU.S. governmen.22

Bu here have been some noable changes o he bureaucraic srucure o he

governmen o beter enable he Unied Saes o respond o poenial mass

arociies, which were discussed a he civil-sociey privae meeing and oulined

in he ac shee released by he Whie House in May 2013. Te Deparmen o

he reasury has managed o place sancions on suspeced human-righs abusers

in he Democraic Republic o Congo, Zimbabwe, Iran, and Burma, and, noa-

bly, on 41 eniies or individuals in Syria or wih ies o he embatled counry.

Te Deparmen o Jusice now has prosecuors working on human-righs abuse

cases; a raud eam is assising in seizing asses o human-righs abusers; and he

Deparmen o Jusice has also begun raining is counerpars in oher counries

on how bes o prosecue human-righs cases. Te Sae Deparmen has aken

an approach designed more o oser a change in culure raher han produce

unique producs, alhough raining or oreign-service ocers in arociy preven-

ion was slaed o begin in February 2013. Te curren saus o his raining

program is unclear.23

USAID is developing and soliciing innovaive echnological approaches oideniy early signs o poenial mass arociies and o beter mobilize responses

hrough a series o echnology challenges or arociy prevenion issued o he

public.24 USAID is also providing oolkis o sa ha include pas experiences,

lisening sessions, lessons on laws, and rules ha apply o arociy prevenion and


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governance issues. In addiion, USAID is developing a raining program on hese

issues ha will be mandaory or USAID employees in he eld.25 Te Deparmen

o Homeland Securiy is working closely wih he Deparmens o Sae, reasury,

and Jusice o ideniy poenial suspecs when hey apply or visas or are engaged

in commercial aciviy hrough he Unied Saes, and Cusoms and Border

Parol is analyzing hisorical rade daa o ideniy paterns o rade relaed omass-arociy aciviy.26 Beore he Rwandan genocide, or example, he Rwandan

governmen ordered unusually large numbers o machees ha were disribued o

loyalis orces or killing usis.27

In general, he APB has been given very good marks or mobilizing new aten-

ion and acion on mass-arociy issues a ederal deparmens, including he

Deparmens o Homeland Securiy, reasury, and Jusicedeparmens ha

had previously paid comparably litle atenion o hese issuesand his progress

is signican in and o isel. In addiion, boh he Sae Deparmen and USAID

deserve high marks or dedicaing increasingly large numbers o sa o conicand mass-arociy prevenion.28 Mos respondens inerviewed or his paper

expressed a sense o disappoinmen wih he Deparmen o Deenses overall

commimen o he aciviies o he APB, and he Penagon has made relaively

ew o is large sa available or hese aciviies. Tose deending he Penagons

level o commimen poin o is work on he Mass Arociy Response Operaion

Projec, he ormer collaboraive eor o he Harvard Kennedy School o

Governmen and he U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Sabiliy Operaions Insiue

ha aimed o enable he Unied Saes and oher governmens o preven and hal

genocide and mass arociy hrough he eecive use o miliary asses and orce as

par o a broader inegraed sraegy. Some wihin he APB also cie he challenges

o working wih he Penagon because o is sheer sizea large insiuion uno

isel wih numerous inernal power ceners wih which o conend.

Inerviews wih governmen ocials and members o civil sociey have also sug-

gesed ha he APB has provided he impeus or he ederal governmen o ake

early acion in a number o counries ha migh oherwise no have received such

atenion. Wihou a public airing o some o hese acions, however, i is dicul

o evaluae is impac in such siuaions.

On balance, he APB has made signican accomplishmens in is rs year, and he

relucance o share hose highlighs more broadly remains disressing. I he APB

is hoping ha silence will allow i o do is work wihou inererence, he opposie

may ulimaely prove o be rue. Several ouside groups menioned a December


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2011 supporive Dear Colleague leter sen rom a biparisan group o 29 sena-

ors o he Whie House oering parnership in anicipaing, prevening, and

responding o genocide and oher mass arociies.29 Tere appeared o be no ormal

Whie House response o he leter, urher sressing he NSC-congressional rela-

ionship. o highligh his poin, congressional saers involved in oreign aairs

have shared ha hey eel hey are no in a posiion o oer criicism o or supporor he APB because hey were so compleely in he dark abou is operaions,

having had only one quick brieng wih Samanha Power. One saer noed ha

he APB had allen o he botom o heir prioriy lis because o he radio silence,

urher marginalizing he enerprise. I he APB coninues o be seen as aggressively

insular in is operaions, i will nd ha i has ewer and ewer supporers o deend

is operaions or ecacy wihin civil sociey or in he halls o Congress.

In consuling wih hose involved wih he APB and civil-sociey organizaions

concerned wih he success o he board, here was a repeaed concern expressed

boh inside and ouside o he governmen ha he APB needed o demonsraebig wins beore i could consider asking Congress or money or going more pub-

lic wih is work. A reques or more resources rom Congress a his poin, as one

governmen ocial noed, would righly elici he response: Money or wha?

A Sae Deparmen ocial who works closely wih he APB suggesed ha he

board is considering several major legislaive proposals designed o help preven

arociies, and ha craing and passing such legislaion migh be seen as a major

vicory. Passing such legislaion would hen make i easier o reques addiional

unding or he APBs work. Bu ha same ocial noed ha his approach is

problemaic given ha legislaion is more o an ask han a win, paricularly

in he curren budge environmen. Moreover, as is oen he case in he eld o

arociy prevenion, i is very dicul or he APB o claim causaliy when aroci-

ies do no ake place.

Libya and Syria: Two extremes

Alhough occurring beore he esablishmen o he APB, he Libya inervenion

in 2011 was iniially seen as a key baromeer o Presiden Obamas approach oarociy prevenion. As Libyan Presiden Moammar Qadda launched increas-

ingly serious atacks agains his own ciizens o pu down democracy proess, he

Unied Saes and is NAO allies repeaedly cied U.N. responsibiliy o proec

language in making he case or inernaional inervenion ino wha had become


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a ull- blown civil war. Esablished in 2005, he responsibiliy o proec saes ha

sovereigny no longer exclusively proecs Saes rom oreign inererence; i is a

charge o responsibiliy ha holds Saes accounable or he welare o heir peo-

ple.30 In a speech o he U.N. Human Righs Council in Geneva, Swizerland, on

February 28, 2011, hen-Secreary o Sae Hilary Clinon announced, Trough

heir acions hey have los he legiimacy o govern and he people o Libya havemade hemselves clear: I is ime or Gadda o gonow wihou urher violence

or delay. Wha was perhaps mos sriking abou he use o he responsibiliy-o-

proec language by he adminisraion was he ac ha i had very litle o say on

responsibiliy o proec prior o Libya.

On March 1, 2011, he Senae unanimously passed a nonbinding resoluion

calling or he Unied Naions o impose a no-y zone over Libya, demanding

Presiden Qaddas resignaion and urging he U.S. Navy o posiion orces o

he coas o Libya in preparaion or an inervenion. Soon aer he U.N. Securiy

Council called or Presiden Qaddas resignaion and auhorized miliary orceo proec civilians. On March 19, 2011, NAO launched Operaion Unied

Proecor, reezing Libyan asses, enorcing a no-y zone over Libya, and provid-

ing miliary logisical assisance o he rebel movemen. Mos imporanly or

he APB, Samanha Power was seen as a key advocae o acion in Libya. Shorly

beore Presiden Obama announced his decision o inervene miliarily, Power

old an audience ha a ailure o ac in Libya would have been exremely chilling,

deadly and indeed a sain on our collecive conscience.31

Over he nex eigh monhs, he Unied Saes and is allies assised in ousing

Presiden Qadda and esablishing he oundaions o a ransiional governmen.

Presiden Qadda was killed by Libyan rebels in Ocober 2011, and days laer

he Unied Naions called or an end o he miliary inervenion. Despie some

conroversy, he Libya inervenion was widely, and righly, seen as an eecive

inernaional inervenion based on reasonable meri. Some criics, however, also

claimed ha he Unied Saes was eager o move beyond he erms o he U.N.

mandae and push or regime change raher han simply haling civilian casualies.

I Libya was seen as a high poin or he adminisraions embrace o he responsi-

biliy o proec and mass-arociy prevenion, Syria has clearly been a nadir. Mucho he relucance o he APBs leadership o engage Congress or he public more

broadly sems rom he ac ha he APB has been rying o se up is operaions

amid an ongoing mass arociy in Syria, or which he inernaional response has,


23/42


by any measure, been waning. Te geopoliics and operaional realiies o rying

o sem he mass arociies in Syria are admitedly excruciaing, bu so has been

he human cos o he conic.

Since he uprising began in February 2011, he Unied Naions esimaes ha a

leas 80,000 Syrians have been killed, around 4 million are inernally displaced,and a leas 1.5 million have ed he counry enirely.32 I is exacly he kind o

carnage or which he APB was creaed o help preven or diuse.

A number o hose wihin and ouside he U.S. governmen argue ha he APB

has uncioned as i should during he crisis. Tey poin ou ha he APB was

creaed o push decision making and policymaking on mass-arociy siuaions

o he highes levels in governmen and ha he decisions on how o respond o

he siuaion in Syria have been rigorously debaed by he presiden, he secrear-

ies o sae and deense, he naional securiy adviser, and oher key players. Tey

also noe ha he sub-APB group draed policy recommendaions or Syria bureceived no eedback rom he Ineragency Policy Commitee ha is responsible

or addressing all dimensions o he conic in Syria. Tey also argue ha he APB

has been inuenial in weighing opions or accounabiliy relaed o he perpera-

ors o arociies in Syria. From his perspecive, some policymakers argue ha he

APB is really beter posiioned o deal wih crises ha are over he horizon or or

which here are warning signs raher han ones ha are direcly unolding (beyond

providing senior decision makers wih alernaives and pracices which hey migh

pursue i hey choose o do so). Cerainly, he leadership o he APB would argue

ha i has been a very acive player behind he scenes in he debae abou how

bes o respond o Syria bu ha hey, similar o everyone else, have only had a

very unpalaable se o choices rom which o pull.

Several poins o his argumen deserve response. Firs, he APB has been almos

invisible rom any adminisraion oureach on is Syria policy, alhough Pomper,

he boards head and a range o oher APB members, have obviously been involved

in ineragency policy commitee discussions on he opic. I he APB were cenral

o discussions on coningency plans and how bes o respond operaionally, i is

naural o expec ha is members would appear prominenly a Whie House

press briengs, congressional hearings, or oher imporan venues or discussionon he adminisraions policy. Te APBs conspicuous absence rom such public

discussions have given he impression, righly or wrongly, ha he APB does do

arociy prevenion, jus no in Syria.


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Second, i is dicul o imagine ha he auhors o he Genocide Prevenion ask

Force repor or he human-righs communiy imagined an ineragency arociy-

prevenion mechanism ha would be unable o visibly add value o an eor o

hal a series o mass arociies ha have he poenial o desabilize he Middle

Eas region or years o come.

As he violence increases wih each passing monh, one migh reasonably expec

ha a ool such as he APB would be employed o push he adminisraion o

ake acion o eiher sem he violence or provide more assisance o he Syrians.

Cerainly, i is possible ha he APB has aken such acion behind he scenes. Ye

he ac ha i is impossible o ascerain he APBs eeciveness in his environ-

men bespeaks a major problem or he board boh in erms o public relaions

and is undamenal jusicaion or exisence, as well as he coninuing ension

beween regional specialiss responsible or paricular counries and uncional

policymakers responsible or criical issues. A a very minimum, APB members

and leaders should be ar more visible in he adminisraions oureach on hisissue. Furhermore, while Power is o be lauded no only or her rack record a he

APB bu also or her commimen o public service and her ouspoken leadership

as an acivis commited o prevening mass arociies, o have her depar he helm

o he APB in he middle o ongoing massacres in Syria suggess ha he APB is

no cenral o shaping he adminisraions approach o he crisis.

Atrocities Prevention Board: Options

In is brie one-year hisory, he Arociies Prevenion Board has had noable

successes, a normal share o bureaucraic ur batles won and los, and a major

Middle Easern crisis wih which o conend. Bu sepping back, a broader and

more imporan se o quesions emerges. Is he APB, as currenly congured,

posiioned or long-erm success? Will he APB be able o mobilize he resources

i needs o be eecive? Wih he deparure o Samanha Power, will he APB

prove o be an enduring mechanism or arociy prevenion, or will i disappear a

he end o Presiden Obamas second erm?

Below, we discuss a number o alernaives or unding and srucuring he APBand he relaive meris o each opion. I is imporan o noe ha he quesions o

unding and srucure are in many ways inexricably linked and, as essenially an

ineragency policy commitee, he APB as i currenly sands canno be direcly

appropriaed unds or direc oher agencies on how o spend heir own resources.


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Option 1: Maintaining the status quo

Te rs and mos obvious opion is o mainain he APB as i is currenly con-

gured. Te APB has made signican headway during is brie ime in opera-

ion, and proponens o his opion argue ha ar more ime is needed o judge

he APBs lasing eeciveness. Te ac ha he APB is direced and led ou ohe Whie House signals a very high level o poliical commimen o arociy

prevenion, and any move or reconguraion o he board could be consrued

as a downgrading o arociy prevenion as an adminisraion prioriy. By having

he APB led ou o he Whie House, he APB is able o push or a high level o

paricipaing-agency commimen and o reasonably adjudicae policy dierences

beween agencies when hey arise. Furhermore, having he APB based ou o he

Whie House also oers a useul signal inernaionally ha he Unied Saes views

arociy prevenion as a prioriy and makes i easier o argue ha like-minded

governmens should also esablish heir own arociy-prevenion mechanisms and

srucures. Based on exensive inerviews wih ederal ocials, he APBs workdoes seem o be helping oser a change in culure across a number o agencies.

Bu here are also some clear limis o he curren arrangemen, many o which

sem rom Whie House sang quirks. Sa posiions a he Naional Securiy

Council are nooriously limied, and he Whie House personnel budge is perpe-

ually under very igh poliical scruiny. I would hereore be very dicul o dedi-

cae addiional sa wihin he NSC o work on he APB, and i was widely agreed

among APB represenaives ha he Whie House would no be in a posiion o

house a larger or permanen secrearia or he APB, which would obviously be

benecial o more regular and eecive operaions. In addiion, because person-

nel slos are oen igh a he Whie House, he NSC o a large degree relies on

employees deailed (essenially on loan) rom dieren agencies and deparmens.

Tis in urn necessiaes airly high urnover o sa, as agencies and deparmens

naurally balk a being shor saed while heir employees emporarily serve a he

NSC. Te APB will hereore likely experience a airly high rae o sa urnover

in is operaions. Such urnover is counerproducive or a board ha places a

premium on an undersanding o he ineragency process and amiliariy wih

previous arociy-prevenion echniques.

Te highly limied number o personnel a he Whie House also makes he APB

vulnerable o simply being eliminaed by a subsequen presiden eager o assign

hese saers o a dieren prioriy. Given he relaively scarce congressional


26/42


engagemen by he APB o dae, i seems unlikely ha a new presiden would ace

a hue and cry or doing so.

Having he APB based ou o he Whie House also poses clear budge challenges.

In addiion o he sel-imposed language o budge neuraliy, he APB is no

currenly in a posiion o receive direc unding or o require agencies and depar-mens o spend unds in a cerain ashion. Tis raises concerns ha over ime he

APB will be seen as a burden by paricipaing agencies raher han as a source add-

ing value. Indeed, i he APB is o mainain is curren srucure, discovering how

i can bes be seen by paricipaing agencies as providing addiive services and

value will be key o is long-erm survival.

Tere is also he issue o personaliy dependence wihin he APB. During her

sin, Power handpicked he rs APB members based on heir prior work and

commimen o arociy issues. Wihin he civil-sociey communiy and even

wihin he governmen, his projec has been seen as Powers so-called babyanunderaking ha may no be able o hrive wihou her direc paricipaion.

As he Obama adminisraion begins is second erm, here has been a signican

amoun o urnover, including Power. Recenly a governmen ocial noed ha in

he ew weeks since Powers deparure, ineres in he APB has no allen, bu he

endurance o he remaining and new members remains o be seen.

I he adminisraion wans o mainain he APB in is curren orm, he NSC

should consider he ollowing as he minimum modicaions needed o ensure

coninued success:

Assign presidential management fellows to work on the APB within the

National Security Council staff and participating agencies. Tese posiions

are unded hrough he Oce o Managemen and Budge and would no add

o he Whie House budge, mainaining budge neuraliy. Aer he wo-year

program, he ellows are given he opion o making heir posiion permanen,

which could urher insiuionalize he APB.

Establish a uniform conflict-assessment framework to be used across all par-ticipating agencies.

Make the executive order regarding the APBs operations public.


27/42


Engage Congress and the public, possibly through annual testimonies or

reports on the APBs activities. Tis will ensure credibiliy, ransparency, and

perhaps opporuniies or unding.

Increase multilateral engagement. Te APBs goals are no jus a U.S. securiy

ineres bu also in he ineres o all naions. In order o be mos eecive, heUnied Saes will likely need o coordinae wih oher counries o preven

arociies, as was he case in Libya.

Work to differentiate atrocity prevention from conflict prevention as an APB

priority. Doing so will be a valuable ool and will help preven any conusion o

is work wih he Bureau or Conic and Sabilizaion Operaions, which cur-

renly has a weak relaionship wih he APB.

Establish a bipartisan oversight board. Te board srucure o he Millennium

Challenge Corporaion, or MCC, oers a useul model or how a board canbuild broad biparisan suppor or an organizaion while srenghening over-

sigh and inpu. Te MCCs board o direcors consiss o ve governmen

ocials and our privae-secor members. U.S. governmen represenaives

include he Secreary o he reasury, he U.S. rade represenaive, he USAID

adminisraor, he MCC chie execuive ocer, and he secreary o sae, who

serves as chair o he board. Te our privae-secor board members are each

recommended by he majoriy and minoriy leaders in he Senae and House

o Represenaives and ocially appoined by he presiden. Te MCC board is

hus able o include he perspecives o muliple agencies, as well as biparisan

inpu rom Congress. Te MCC board mees quarerly o make decisions on is

unding selecions and policy prioriies, encouraging buy-in and suppor o he

MCC model and principles. Te meeings are privae and o he record, which

allows or more open and rank discussions. Insiuing a model similar o his

could be grealy benecial o he APB. Firs, having APB principals engaged

quarerly, as opposed o once per year, would provide he sub-APB more

opporuniies o direcly engage and ensure messages are being heard a he

op. Second, appoining ineresed ouside expers would also expand he APBs

knowledge base and increase is credibiliy ouside he U.S. governmen, espe-

cially wih is key audiencehuman-righs groups. Tird, allowing Congress ohave he nominal role o appoining nongovernmen paricipans would provide

he sense o inclusion wihou ceding overall conrol o he process. Fourh, he

MCC experience has demonsraed ha he board is genuinely useul and has

helped sharpen decision making wihin he agency.


28/42


Option 2: Establishing a contingency fund

Te Genocide Prevenion ask Force and numerous oher analyses have sug-

gesed ha a coningency und would provide a valuable conribuion o eors o

preven mass arociies, and here is litle dispue in ha regard. Paricularly in he

curren budge and poliical environmen, however, i would no be easy o creaea new und and have i managed ou o he Whie House.

While USAID, hrough he exising Complex Crises Fund, has received $40 mil-

lion o $50 million o coningency unding or complex emergencies annually, his

is a raher modes amoun, and i is designed o apply across USAID and he Sae

Deparmen, no he whole governmen. While he adminisraion has clearly

considered he creaion o a larger and more cenral coningency und or arociy

prevenion, i is undersandably relucan o pursue any such plans wih Congress

unil i has higher-prole successes o which o poin. Tis creaes somehing o a

chicken and egg problem: Te adminisraion wans demonsrable high-prolearociy-prevenion successes beore i asks or coningency unds, bu such suc-

cesses may be elusive wihou greaer resources.

A modes in-beween sep would be o give he APB greaer inuence in recom-

mending ha specic ambassadorial poss are given addiional exper sang

o help address siuaions where here are concerns regarding poenial mass

arociies. Such addiional sa should be assigned or no less han a year o a

given pos. As hings are currenly consruced, APB or CSO atenion on a given

counry usually means an inux o shor-erm our o duy, or emporary duy,

sas ha provide a limied assessmen o he siuaion on he ground and recom-

mend nex seps. Ambassadors and oher embassy ocials migh be ar more

recepive o atenion rom he APB i i acually provided hem wih addiional

exper sa who repored direcly o hem and addressed an area o muually

idenied concern.

Such an approach would go a long way oward helping ambassadors see he APB

as a value-added operaion raher han simply a bureaucraic challenge o be man-

aged. Tis sraegy would no necessarily require he creaion o a special conin-

gency und, alhough i would obviously be useul. Insead, i would require anexecuive order and/or agreemen by he paricipaing agencies and heir respec-

ive personnel srucures ha mass-arociy prevenion is o sucien imporance

ha i would require a more exible approach o deploying personnel. Equally

imporan, personnel assigned on an emergency basis hrough such a sysem


29/42


would need o have he requisie experise o make an impac on arociy preven-

ion above and beyond regular embassy and USAID mission uncions.

Option 3: Establish a joint White House-Department of Defense-

State Department secretariat

A more radical approach o addressing he budgeary and operaional consrains

on he APB would be o make he APB joinly co-chaired by he Whie House,

he Deparmen o Deense, and he Deparmen o Sae. Such a move would

allow he APB o develop a much more robus and ull-ime secrearia, able o

manage he ow o communicaion and analysis beween agencies. I would also

encourage a sronger sense o insiuional memory regarding he operaions o

he APB, given ha sa a he Deense Deparmen and Sae Deparmen end o

roae less requenly han a he NSC. Imporanly, such a move would also allow

he APB o receive direc unding or is operaions hrough a regularized budgeprocess, eiher hrough budges o he Sae Deparmen or Deense Deparmen

or boh. Wih Whie House, Sae Deparmen, and Deense Deparmen

involvemen, here would likely no be any drop-o in paricipaion rom he

Deparmens o he reasury or Jusice or he CIA given he radiional insiu-

ional rivalries when i comes o inernaional aairs. On balance, he greaes

atraciveness o his approach would be o give he APB much sronger and more

permanen insiuional ooing wih a real ow o resources behind i.

Tere are also a number o downsides o such an approach. Even i i were housed

joinly he Deparmens o Deense and Sae, he APB would sill need o make

he case or he meris o is budge on he Hill, and he experience o he CSO

o dae in persuading Congress ha such aciviies are worhy o unding has

no always been saluary. In addiion, some aciviss would argue ha any move

away rom having he Whie House solely lead and direc he APB is anamoun

o arociy being downgraded by he adminisraion as a prioriy. Lasly, here

have been numerous previous examples where join Deparmen o Deense-

Deparmen o Sae conrol o aciviies or unding has led o he Deparmen

o Deense largely dominaing he conversaion regarding how hese unds and

aciviies should be direced. Alhough he Sae Deparmen echnically direcsmany miliary assisance programs, wih he Penagon acually carrying ou he

raining, in realiy, Sae Deparmen oversigh has oen been litle more han a

rubber samp.


30/42


Option 4: Replicate Office of National Drug Control Policy structure

Te Oce o Naional Drug Conrol Policy, or ONDCP, is an ineragency group

chaired by he Whie House commited o promoing public healh and reduc-

ing drug abuse hrough communiy-based programs. While he issues covered by

he ONDCP are vasly dieren rom hose o he APB, he srucure o he oceprovides an ineresing model ha could poenially be replicaed by he APB.

Wih he paricipaion o 13 agencies, he ONDCP is led by a secrearia housed

a he Execuive Oce o he Presiden, which oversees he budge and overall

sraegy and is subjec o he Open Governmen Iniiaive, he Obama adminisra-

ions large-scale eor o ensure accounabiliy hroughou governmen hrough

a series o repor cards on an agencys ransparency. Te Oce o Naional

Drug Conrol Policy generally makes is planning and aciviies well known o he

public.

While publishing he governmens arociy-prevenion plans could be somewhasensiive, doing so could help deer oreign acors rom pursuing acs o mass

arociy. Whas more, simple bureaucraic changes are oen no sensiive-enough

inormaion o warran being kep rom he public. In he case o he Oce o

Naional Drug Conrol Policy, some could argue equally ha publishing inor-

maion abou he war on drugs migh hinder overall eors, bu wih boh drug

conrol and arociy prevenion, here should be a reasonable sandard o ranspar-

ency applied.

Perhaps mos imporanly, he ONDCP model would give he Arociies

Prevenion Board wo imporan ools: a regular plaorm o eecively use he

bully pulpi on he imporance o prevening mass arociies; and sucien bud-

ge and sang so ha i could manage a secrearia or is eors. Some would

argue ha he war on drugs is an easier issue area on which o esablish a quasi-

independen oce wihin he Whie House, bu here is no reason ha a so-called

arociies czar couldn mobilize ineragency acion in he same ashion ha he

drug czar has.

Option 5: Overlap with Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations

Given he signican inersecion beween he work o he APB and he Bureau

o Conic and Sabilizaion Operaions a he Sae Deparmen, i migh make

sense o explore i heir work could be inegraed ino a single uncioning whole.


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An exploraion o his possibiliy would logically be conduced hrough he

nex round o he Quadrennial Diplomacy and Developmen Review, he Sae

Deparmens blueprin o coordinae is missions and resources wih USAID o

increase ecacy. In some sense, he CSO would make a logical as he opera-

ional arm o he APB, in ha i would be able o rapidly deploy o he eld,

develop ineragency assessmens, and serve as a reservoir o bes pracices o mii-gae and preven major conics. While he CSO has enjoyed dedicaed unding

and personnel, i has oen lacked he high-level poliical buy-in ha is mos cru-

cial o make i a success. Te APB has had jus he opposie challenge, wih very

high-level poliical buy-in rom he W hie House bu limied resources o move is

agenda orward. A marriage o he wo migh make boh more eecive.

Such a course o acion is obviously no wihou risks. Bureaucraic reorganiza-

ions oen bring abou major ur batles ha disrac rom he ask a hand, and

such reorganizaion could be seen as diminishing he eeciveness or imporance

o boh he APBs and he CSOs work i no handled properly.


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Conclsion | www.americanproress.o

Conclusion

Te Arociies Prevenion Boards record aer one year is decidedly mixed. I has

brough new atenion and energy o arociy-prevenion eors in agencies where

his issue has oen been negleced, and i has sared a very useul conversaion

abou he sysemic changes necessary o beter rain governmen employees in he

language and echniques o arociy prevenion. Te APB has been highly acive,

and i has operaed a an up empo. Te process o bringing ogeher key iner-

agency players around shared analyical eors is o obvious uiliy, and he APBs

eors have helped propel counry eams on he ground o embrace more conic-sensiive approaches o boh diplomacy and developmen.

Ye here are oher areas where he glass remains signicanly less han hal ull.

Te APB reas public and congressional engagemen as onerous, ulimaely

undermining is credibiliy and suppor, alhough i has made imporan seps

o be consulaive in recen monhs. Engagemen wih Congress and wih he

public is no only essenial o broadening suppor or he APB, bu i is ulimaely

insrumenal in he undamenal operaional ask o prevening mass arociies.

While here have been some modes seps oward broader public engagemen, he

deaul sill seems o be ha he less he public knows abou he APB, he beter.

Moreover, he APB has ye o secure a durable place wihin he ederal bureau-

cracy, and i would remain all oo easy or he APB o be disbanded a a laer dae

wihou any public or congressional backlash.

Tere are a number o srucural changes ha could be adoped o ensure a more

ecien and ransparen APB. Esablishing a biparisan board along he lines

employed by he Millennium Challenge Corporaion would give he APB greaer

he, a sronger base o suppor, and much-needed oversigh. In addiion, he APBcould also evolve ino a srucure closer o ha o he Oce o Naional Drug

Policy over ime, allowing i a more eecive and beter-resourced plaorm rom

which o work. As Syria demonsraes by he day, he work o arociy prevenion

is as needed as i is unnished.


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Abot te ators and Acnowledements | www.americanproress.o

About the authors

John Norrisis he Execuive Direcor o he Susainable Securiy and PeacebuildingIniiaive a he Cener or American Progress. He has served in a number o

senior roles in governmen, inernaional insiuions and non-pros. John previ-

ously served as he Execuive Direcor o he Enough Projec, an advocacy organi-zaion commited o prevening war crimes. John was he Chie o Poliical Aairs

or he Unied Naions Mission in Nepal and earlier served as he Washingon

Chie o Sa or he Inernaional Crisis Group, conducing exensive eld work

and senior-level advocacy or resolving conics in Souh Asia, Arica and he

Balkans. John also served as he Direcor o Communicaions or he U.S. Depuy

Secreary o Sae, Srobe albot, and worked as a speechwrier and eld disas-

er exper a USAID. John is he auhor o several books, including he Disaser

Gypsies, a memoir o his work in he eld o emergency relie, and Collision

Course: NAO, Russia and Kosovo.

Annie Malknecht is a Research Associae wih he Susainable Securiy and

Peacebuilding Iniiaive a he Cener or American Progress. She holds a bach-

elors degree rom he George Washingon Universiy in inernaional aairs,

where she ocused on inernaional developmen and economics. Prior o joining

he Susainable Securiy eam, Annie worked on he execuive eam a he Cener

or Global Developmen, and she compleed inernships wih he Cener or

American Progress and Women Trive Worldwide as an undergraduae. She is a

naive o Minneapolis, Minnesoa.

Acknowledgements

Te auhors o his repor would like o acknowledge he valuable suppor o

Humaniy Unied in pursuing his projec.


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Timeline o te Atrocities Prevention Board | www.americanproress.o

December 2008 Te Genocide Prevenion ask Force publishes is ndings

concluding ha prevening genocide is an achievable goal; he ask orcerecommended he creaion o a new high-level ineragency body.

Timeline of the Atrocities Prevention Board

January 2009: Presiden

Obama akes oce and

appoins Samanha Power

as special assisan or

mulilaeral aairs.

May 2010: Te Naional Securiy Sraegy is published. Te sraegy makes an explici

saemen ha he Unied Saes needs o ensure ha i is proacively engaged in

prevening mass arociies and genocide.

August 2010: Te Senae inroduces and evenually passes Concurren Resoluion

71, rearming ha genocide prevenion is in he naional ineres and supporing

he creaion o an ineragency policy board a he Naional Securiy Council.

December 15, 2010: Te Sae Deparmen launches he rs Quadrennial Diplomacy

and Developmen Review, or QDDR, which calls or he Unied Saes o coordinae

crisis response hrough a new inernaional operaional response ramework which

will draw on he capabiliies and experise ound across ederal agencies and improve

civil-miliary collaboraion.33

ASSOCIATED PRESS/ChARLES DhARAPAk

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2009

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March 2011: Presiden

Bashar al-Assad o Syria

begins a violen crackdown

on a growing uprising in

Aleppo, as people ake o

he srees o proes heauhoriarian governmen.

Violence and unres

coninues o inensiy or

he nex wo years.

March 2011: Te Unied Saes and NAO allies launch Operaion Unied Proecor,

wih Senae and U.N. approval, o assis he Libyan people in ousing Presiden

Moammar Qadda. Te miliary inervenion is compleed in Ocober 2011, shorly

aer Presiden Qaddas deah.

August 2011: Presiden Obama explicily calls or Presiden Assad o sep down.

He issues an execuive order reezing all Syrian asses subjec o U.S. jurisdicion

bu reuses o provide resources or recogniion or he Syrian opposiion.

August 4, 2011: Te Presidenial Sudy Direcive o Preven Mass Arociies, or

PSD-10, is released. PSD-10 calls or he examinaion o curren policies and he

esablishmen o an ineragency board 100 days rom publicaion.

November 2011: Te Sae Deparmen esablishes he Bureau o Conic and

Sabilizaion Oce, or CSO, as mandaed by he QDDR. Te mission o he CSO is

o help counries and people nd he road away rom conic and oward peace34

hrough on-he-ground analysis and creae sraegies o ocus resources

and programming.

December 2011: A Dear Colleague leter is sen rom a biparisan group o 29

senaors o oer parnership in anicipaing, prevening, and responding o genocide

and oher mass arociies. I received no response rom he Whie House.

ASSOCIATED PRESS/RODRIgO ABD

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Timeline o te Atrocities Prevention Board | www.americanproress.o

April 23, 2012: Te Arociies Prevenion Board is ocially launched, 263 days aer

he publicaion o PSD-10.

December 2012: Te Unied Saes ocially recognizes he Syrian opposiion coaliion.

February 15, 2013: Samanha Power seps down rom he NSC. Sephen Pomper

akes over he APB.

February 28, 2013: Te U.N.

Reugee Agency esimaes

he number o Syrian reu-

gees has surpassed 1 million

people. Secreary o SaeJohn Kerry announces he

U.S. commimen o provide

$60 million in aid o Syrian

rebels in he orm o raions

and medical supplies.

April 23, 2013: Israel alleges he use o chemical weapons in Syria. Disagreemen

coninues over wheher he Syrian governmen or rebel groups are responsible.

May 2013: Te Whie House releases he rs ac shee on he APB since is

esablishmen, and USAID hoss he rs public consulaion on he APB wih

human-righs organizaions.

ASSOCIATED PRESS/BuRhAN OzBILICI

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Te U.N. Reugee Agency updaes he number o Syrian reugees o 1.5 million

and he number o inernally displaced persons, or IDPs, in Syria o 4 million.

Vuk Jeremi, he presiden o he U.N. General Assembly, saes ha a leas80,000 people have been killed in he Syrian conic.

2013


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Endnotes | www.americanproress.o

1 Oce o te Press Secretary, Remars by te Presidentat te united States holocast Memorial Msem,Press release, April 23, 2012, available at ttp://www.witeose.ov/te-press-oce/2012/04/23/remars-president-nited-states-olocast-memorial-msem.

2 Ibid.

3 Madeleine k. Albrit and William S. Coen, Prevent-in genocide: a Bleprint or u.S. Policymaers(Wasinton: u.S. holocast Memorial Msem, 2008),available at ttp://www.smm.or/enocide/tas-orce/report.pp.

4 Te Wite hose, National Security Strategy(ExectiveOce o te President, 2010), available at ttp://www.witeose.ov/sites/dealt/les/rss_viewer/nation-al_secrity_stratey.pd.

5 A concurrent resolution recognizing the United Statesnational interest in helping to prevent and mitigate acts ogenocide and other mass atrocities against civilians, andsupporting and encouraging eforts to develop a whole ogovernment approach to prevent and mitigate such acts.S. Con. Res. 71, 111 Con. 2nd Session (governmentPrintin Oce, 2010), available at ttp://www.ovtrac.s/conress/bills/111/sconres71/text.

6 Oce o te Press Secretary, Presidential Stdy Direc-tive on Mass Atrocity Prevention, Press release, Ast4, 2011, available at ttp://www.witeose.ov/te-press-oce/2011/08/04/presidential-stdy-directive-mass-atrocities.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 hman Rits Watc, uS: Presidential Directives a Stepto Ensrin Never Aain, Press release, Ast 4, 2011,available at ttp://www.rw.or/news/2011/08/04/s-presidential-directives-step-ensrin-never-aain.

10 Time elapsed between te pblication o PSD-10 onAst 4, 2011, and te lanc o te Atrocities Preven-tion Board on April 23, 2012.

11 Oce o te Press Secretary, Fact Seet: A Com-preensive Stratey and New Tools to Prevent andRespond to Atrocities, Press release, April 23, 2012 ,available at ttp://www.witeose.ov/te-press-oce/2012/04/23/act-seet-compreensive-stratey-and-new-tools-prevent-and-respond-atro.

12 Maria Otero, Remars at a Brien to te DiplomaticCommnity on te Atrocities Prevention Board, Pressrelease, April 23, 2012, available at ttp://www.state.ov/j/189208.tm.

13 Donald Steinber, reportin on a panel led by Saman-ta Power, u.S. holocast Memorial Msem, April 23,2012.

14 Oce o Sen. Jon McCain, Statement By SenatorJon McCain On T e Presidents Annoncement

Today And Te Sitation In Syria, Press release, April23, 2012, available at ttp://www.mccain.senate.ov/pblic/index.cm?FseAction=PressOce.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e00ebe8-dcb2-d22-70e-973dd74d361a.

15 Stepen M. Walt, Is te Atrocity Prevention Board agood Idea?, Foreign Policy, April 24, 2012, availableat ttp://walt.oreinpolicy.com/posts/2012/04/24/is_te_atrocity_prevention_board_a_ood_idea_0.

16 Donald Steinber, speain at te uSAID Pblic Con-sltation on APB , National Press Clb, May 20, 2013.

17 Mltiple bacrond conversations wit u.S. overn-ment ocials.

18 Te Wite hose, Fact Sheet: The Obama Administra-tions Comprehensive Eforts

to Prevent Mass Atrocities Over the Past Year(Exective Oceo te President, 2013), available at ttp://www.wite-

ose.ov/sites/dealt/les/docs/act_seet_-_ad-ministration_eorts_to_prevent_mass_atrocities5.pd.

19 Ibid.

20 u.S. Department o State, u.S. Department o StateLances Brea o Confict and Stabiliation Opera-tions, Press release, November 22, 2011, available atttp://www.state.ov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/11/177636.tm.

21 Bacrond discssions wit administration ocialsand otside rops.

22 Ibid.

23 Te Wite hose, Fact Sheet: The Obama Administra-tions Comprehensive Eforts to Prevent Mass AtrocitiesOver the Past Year(Exective Oce o te President,

2013), available at ttp://www.witeose.ov/sites/dealt/les/docs/act_seet_-_administration_e-orts_to_prevent_mass_atrocities5.pd.

24 See uSAID, Tec Callene or Atrocity Prevention,available at ttp://www.said.ov/atrocities(last ac-cessed Jne 2013).

25 Steinber, uSAID Pblic Consltation on APB.

26 Ibid.

27 Mar Doyle, Ex-Rwandan PM reveals enocide plan-nin, BBC, Marc 26, 2004, available at ttp://news.bbc.co./2/i/arica/3572887.stm.

28 Bacrond interviews wit administration ocialsand otside rops.

29 Oce o Sen. Cristoper Coons, Senators spport im-provin u.S. capacity to prevent and respond to massatrocities, Press release, December 5, 2011, availableat ttp://www.coons.senate.ov/newsroom/releases/release/senators-spport-improvin-s-capacity-to-prevent-and-respond-to-mass-atrocities.

30 Oce o te Special Adviser on te Prevention o geno-cide, Te Responsibility to Protect, available at ttp://www.n.or/en/preventenocide/adviser/responsibil-ity.stml (last accessed Jne 2013).

31 Seryl gay Stolber, Still Crsadin, bt Now on teInside, The New York Times, Marc 29, 2011, available atttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/world/30power.tml.

32 uN News Centre, Otraed by risin deat toll inSyria, general Assembly demands alt to all violence,

May 15, 2013, available at ttp://www.n.or/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44916#.ubXXQ_leaSo.

33 u.S. Department o State, Te First QadrennialDiplomacy and Development Review (QDDR): Leadin

Tro Civilian Power, available at ttp://www.state.ov/s/dmr/qddr/ (last accessed Jne 2013).

34 Brea o Confict and Stabiliation Operations, Mis-sion, available at ttp://www.state.ov/j/cso/abot/mission/index.tm (last accessed Jne 2013).

Endnotes
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/remarks-president-united-states-holocaust-memorial-museumhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/remarks-president-united-states-holocaust-memorial-museumhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/remarks-president-united-states-holocaust-memorial-museumhttp://www.ushmm.org/genocide/taskforce/report.phphttp://www.ushmm.org/genocide/taskforce/report.phphttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strategy.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strategy.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strategy.pdfhttp://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/sconres71/texthttp://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/sconres71/texthttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/04/presidential-study-directive-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/04/presidential-study-directive-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/04/presidential-study-directive-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/fact-sheet-comprehensive-strategy-and-new-tools-prevent-and-respond-atrohttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/fact-sheet-comprehensive-strategy-and-new-tools-prevent-and-respond-atrohttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/fact-sheet-comprehensive-strategy-and-new-tools-prevent-and-respond-atrohttp://www.state.gov/j/189208.htmhttp://www.state.gov/j/189208.htmhttp://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e00ebfe8-dcb2-d2f2-f70e-973dd74d361ahttp://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e00ebfe8-dcb2-d2f2-f70e-973dd74d361ahttp://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e00ebfe8-dcb2-d2f2-f70e-973dd74d361ahttp://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e00ebfe8-dcb2-d2f2-f70e-973dd74d361ahttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/11/177636.htmhttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/11/177636.htmhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/fact_sheet_-_administration_efforts_to_prevent_mass_atrocities5.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/fact_sheet_-_administration_efforts_to_prevent_mass_atrocities5.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/fact_sheet_-_administration_efforts_to_prevent_mass_atrocities5.pdfhttp://www.usaid.gov/atrocitieshttp://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/release/senators-support-improving-us-capacity-to-prevent-and-respond-to-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/release/senators-support-improving-us-capacity-to-prevent-and-respond-to-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/release/senators-support-improving-us-capacity-to-prevent-and-respond-to-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/responsibility.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/responsibility.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/responsibility.shtmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/world/30power.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/world/30power.htmlhttp://www.state.gov/s/dmr/qddr/http://www.state.gov/s/dmr/qddr/http://www.state.gov/j/cso/about/mission/index.htmhttp://www.state.gov/j/cso/about/mission/index.htmhttp://www.state.gov/j/cso/about/mission/index.htmhttp://www.state.gov/j/cso/about/mission/index.htmhttp://www.state.gov/s/dmr/qddr/http://www.state.gov/s/dmr/qddr/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/world/30power.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/world/30power.htmlhttp://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/responsibility.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/responsibility.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/responsibility.shtmlhttp://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/release/senators-support-improving-us-capacity-to-prevent-and-respond-to-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/release/senators-support-improving-us-capacity-to-prevent-and-respond-to-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/release/senators-support-improving-us-capacity-to-prevent-and-respond-to-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.usaid.gov/atrocitieshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/fact_sheet_-_administration_efforts_to_prevent_mass_atrocities5.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/fact_sheet_-_administration_efforts_to_prevent_mass_atrocities5.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/fact_sheet_-_administration_efforts_to_prevent_mass_atrocities5.pdfhttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/11/177636.htmhttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/11/177636.htmhttp://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e00ebfe8-dcb2-d2f2-f70e-973dd74d361ahttp://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e00ebfe8-dcb2-d2f2-f70e-973dd74d361ahttp://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e00ebfe8-dcb2-d2f2-f70e-973dd74d361ahttp://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=e00ebfe8-dcb2-d2f2-f70e-973dd74d361ahttp://www.state.gov/j/189208.htmhttp://www.state.gov/j/189208.htmhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/fact-sheet-comprehensive-strategy-and-new-tools-prevent-and-respond-atrohttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/fact-sheet-comprehensive-strategy-and-new-tools-prevent-and-respond-atrohttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/fact-sheet-comprehensive-strategy-and-new-tools-prevent-and-respond-atrohttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/04/presidential-study-directive-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/04/presidential-study-directive-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/04/presidential-study-directive-mass-atrocitieshttp://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/sconres71/texthttp://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/sconres71/texthttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strategy.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strategy.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/national_security_strategy.pdfhttp://www.ushmm.org/genocide/taskforce/report.phphttp://www.ushmm.org/genocide/taskforce/report.phphttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/remarks-president-united-states-holocaust-memorial-museumhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/remarks-president-united-states-holocaust-memorial-museumhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/23/remarks-president-united-states-holocaust-memorial-museum


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Atrocities Prevention Board