Atrocity Prevention as a Core National Security Interest and Core Moral Responsibility: Where Does U.S. Action Stand? 

On Monday, November 13, the Clements Center for National Security and the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies hosted Andrea Gittleman, Policy Director for the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, for a talk on “Atrocity Prevention as a Core National Security Interest and Core Moral Responsibility: Where Does U.S. Action Stand?”.

Genocide and other mass atrocities inflict profound harm on victims and generate trauma that can haunt generations to come. Senior U.S. officials have repeatedly stated that preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a “core national security interest and core moral responsibility.” By exploring U.S. responses to mass atrocities in contexts including Burma/Myanmar and China, the lecture will examine the interplay between these two rationales for prevention, the recent trajectory of atrocity prevention policy in the U.S., and what more may be needed to make sure U.S. leaders uphold the obligation of “never again.”

Andrea Gittleman is the policy director for the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, where she leads the Center’s policy outreach and country-specific work, as well as efforts relating to justice and accountability for mass atrocities. Previously, she was interim director of US policy and senior legislative counsel at Physicians for Human Rights, where she designed advocacy and policy strategies on a broad range of international human rights issues, including mass atrocities. Prior to that she served as an Arthur Helton Global Human Rights Fellow with the Burma Lawyers’ Council in Mae Sot, Thailand, where she coordinated an international advocacy campaign for justice for mass atrocities in Burma. Prior to attending law school she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania. She received a J.D. from the New York University School of Law and a B.A. in political science and international studies from the University of Chicago.

For more information on this event, contact Elizabeth Doughtie at [email protected].

View photos from the event here.