11. A Smart Use of Intelligence: Preventing Genocide and Mass Killing
- Author:
- Lawrence Woocher
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Each year, the top American intelligence official appears before Congress to present the intelligence community.' s assessment of worldwide threats to U.S. national security. In his 2010 testimony, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dennis Blair included something new. Under the heading ."Mass Killings,." Blair wrote, ."Looking ahead over the next five years, a number of countries in Africa and Asia are at significant risk for a new outbreak of mass killing." He defined mass killing as ."the deliberate killing of at least 1,000 unarmed civilians of a particular political identity by state or state-sponsored actors in a single event or over a sustained period." This appeared to be the first time the senior-most U.S. intelligence official had called attention to the general phenomenon of mass killing.-or the closely related and more common notions of genocide or mass atrocities.-in his annual threat assessment.
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States, America, and Asia