Behind the Decisions of Intervention: The Neglects of the Rwandan Genocide

Abstract

My research is centered on the Clinton Administration and the United States’ lack of involvement during the Rwandan genocide. The research begins with identifying and defining the concept of American exceptionalism, which gives a brief look into America’s obligation to preserve democracy and protect human rights. In addition, the paper summarizes the events that took place in Rwanda and the violence that claimed 800,000 lives. Parts of the paper uses other scholars’ criterions on when to intervene in global conflict, which support my own research and my assertions to why the United States declined to provide military aid. The key issues here, is that the United States chooses when to be exceptional in a time of global conflict, which questions the concept of American exceptionalism altogether. Majority of my research uses secondary sources and draws from other studies on intervention and American foreign policy to answer the question to whether or not the United States uses military aid when it offers political and economic returns.