Normally, readers of international news would not expect to see much press coverage of the tiny Republic of Rwanda, an independent country the size of the state of Maryland, sitting in the ‘‘Great Lakes’’ region of east-central Africa. But ever since 1994, when a horrific event occurred in Rwanda, this country continues to receive significant world attention. That event, of course, was the genocide perpetrated on the minority Tutsi ethnic group, resulting in the deliberate murder of approximately 800,000 men, women, and children. The conclusion that these killings came under the internationally recognized definition of genocide was certified by the U.S. State Department during the administration of President George W. Bush.1 The Rwandan genocide of 1994 was not a singular event. It was the super-climax of an ethnic conflict that began in 1959, reached a crescendo in 1994, and continues today. It should be studied to examine the relationship between ethnicity and civil conflict, both violent and nonviolent. A study of the reaction of the international community to the Rwandan genocide, both during and afterward, can also be quite an eye-opener to foreign affairs practitioners. new United Nations concept known as ‘‘responsibility to protect’’ was crafted largely in response to the Rwandan genocide. How, in the future, will the international community move to protect innocent civilians being massacred within sovereign borders?2