ABSTRACT
People across the globe basically read about and/or passively watched as three major genocides unfolded before their eyes: the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica, and the current genocide in Darfur. The prevention of genocide is time-consuming, at times extremely frustrating, always politically complex, and extremely costly. It is also critical to note that each case is unique and thus requires its own set of preventive actions, which range across a wide spectrum of choices. Genocide early warning signals are those statements, actions, events that suggest, in one way or another that a situation is possibly slouching towards genocide. Jentleson asserts that "preventive diplomacy, no less than other forms of diplomacy, often needs to be backed by the threat if not the actual use of force". Post-conflict peacebuilding is an integral component of conflict prevention.
