Dean Menzies Addresses Prevention of Mass Atrocities  

On 2 December 2008, Ambassador John Menzies, Dean of the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations offered the keynote address at the Mass Atrocity Response Operations (MARO) Project's roll-out of the annotated planning framework to the U.S. Government planning community. The MARO Project, sponsored by the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University and the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Institute, will equip the United States, other states, and regional and international actors with the tools to respond effectively to genocide and mass atrocity when directed by national leadership. The MARO Project focuses on the potential use of military operations, in conjunction with other U.S. government agencies, to terminate and mitigate the effects of genocide and mass atrocity. By raising the awareness of the demands and dilemmas of military interventions, the MARO Project aims to foster the development of preventative, non-military approaches. 
 
At the conference, Ambassador Menzies addressed members of the major communities relevant to future mass atrocity response operations: the U.S. military, the State Department, and other communities. “Had the MARO project been implemented in the early 1990's, thousands of lives would have been saved in Bosnia,” he added, “We must alter the paradigm from a reactive to a proactive response.” Menzies was Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he served in a variety of capacities from 1994-1996. He was also the Chief of Mission to Kosovo in 2001-2002.