Meaning: The quote by Lakhdar Brahimi, a prominent Algerian diplomat and public servant, refers to the tragic genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994. The genocide resulted in the mass slaughter of an estimated 800,000 Rwandans, primarily Tutsi, over the course of 100 days. Brahimi's statement highlights the failure of the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to intervene effectively in order to prevent the genocide from escalating.

Brahimi's assertion that the genocide in Rwanda happened because the international community and the Security Council refused to provide additional troops sheds light on the inadequacy of the response to the escalating crisis. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), which was deployed in Rwanda at the time, was critically under-resourced and lacked the necessary mandate and capacity to effectively prevent the genocide. Brahimi's reference to the refusal to provide an additional 5000 troops reflects the missed opportunity to bolster the UNAMIR force and potentially mitigate the scale of the violence.

The quote also underscores the notion that the cost of intervention was a significant factor in the decision-making process. Brahimi implies that the refusal to allocate additional troops was primarily due to financial considerations. He suggests that the cost of deploying an additional 5000 troops, estimated at "fifty, a hundred million dollars," was deemed prohibitive by the international community and the Security Council. This raises questions about the prioritization of financial concerns over the urgent need to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.

The failure to respond effectively to the genocide in Rwanda has been widely criticized, and Brahimi's statement contributes to the ongoing debate about the responsibilities of the international community in preventing mass atrocities. The aftermath of the genocide prompted soul-searching and calls for reform within the United Nations and other global institutions to ensure that similar tragedies could be averted in the future.

In the years following the genocide, there has been a growing recognition of the need for timely and decisive international intervention in cases of mass atrocities. The concept of the "responsibility to protect" (R2P) has gained prominence as a framework for addressing and preventing genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. R2P emphasizes the collective responsibility of the international community to protect populations from these grave crimes and to intervene when national authorities are unable or unwilling to do so.

Brahimi's quote serves as a reminder of the consequences of inaction in the face of mass atrocities and the imperative for the international community to prioritize the protection of vulnerable populations. It also underscores the need for a more robust and proactive approach to conflict prevention and peacekeeping, particularly in situations where there are early warning signs of potential violence.

The legacy of the Rwandan genocide continues to inform discussions and policies related to international humanitarian intervention, conflict resolution, and the prevention of mass atrocities. Brahimi's poignant statement resonates as a call to action for the international community to learn from the failures of the past and to ensure that similar tragedies are not allowed to unfold in the future.