Question

Evaluate the international community's response to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. What steps could have been taken to limit the event?

Answer 1

In April 1994 in Rwanda (East Africa) began the genocide of Tutsi - an ethnic minority, which for centuries dominated the Rwandan majority - Hutu. During the 100 days of incredible violence, about 800 000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were murdered.  The international community, unfortunately, didn't respond to this event on time. The conflict was considered as an internal case and the Security Council of the UN didn't decide to intervene. Even though the scale and character of the conflict was well known the United States didn't want to get involved because of a painful experience from its intervention in Somalia in 1993 (the story was presented in the movie Black Hawk Down). 
The UN troops arrived in Rwanda when the major fights were over. They assisted only by the burial of deaths and protected the survivors. Today we know that other countries (for example France and China) were selling arms to the Rwandan government. 
What could be the response? The international community could prevent the growing hostility and animosity between Hutu and Tutsi already before the genocide. They should have introduced an embargo on arms in order to prevent the escalation of violence. When the conflict had begun, a military intervention should have taken place. 

Answer 2

The international community did little to intervene in the Rwandan genocide. When the Interahamwe Hutu militia began killing Tutsis in April of 1994, foreign governments came to the rescue of their own citizens living in Rwanda but did little else to halt the killing. By the end of May of 1994, half a million Tutsi were dead, and neighboring nations faced a serious refugee crisis as Rwandans flooded across the borders. The United Nations stopped short of referring to the crisis as a full-scale genocide, referring to the killing as “acts of genocide” instead. The United Nations also made the decision to withdraw 90% of the troops in Rwanda, a clear indication of their unwillingness to intervene.