Never again, for real: why President Obama should make preventing genocide a national priority.

• Author: Albright, Madeleine K.
• Position: OPINION - Barack Obama

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Some we see; others remain invisible to us. Some have names and faces; others we don't know. They are the victims of genocide and mass atrocities, and their numbers are too staggering to count.

December was the 60th anniversary of the United Nations's treaty against genocide. But despite six decades of efforts to prevent and halt systematic massacres, forced displacements, and mass rapes, such atrocities persist.

Why are we stilt tacking the necessary policies and strategies to prevent these atrocities?

It's not because the public doesn't care. We've seen a surge in interest in the U.S., galvanized by the crisis in Darfur and driven in large part by students and faith-based organizations. And it's not because our readers don't care: Over the years, many in Congress and successive Presidents have demanded more action to stop genocide.

Barack Obama should demonstrate at the outset of his presidency that preventing genocide is a national, priority--and not only for moral, reasons, but also because it is in America's national, interest: Left unchecked, genocide wilt undermine American security.

First, genocide fuels instability, usually in weak, undemocratic, corrupt states. It is in these states that we find terrorist recruitment, human trafficking, and civil strife.

Second, genocide and mass atrocities have Long-tasting consequences far beyond the states in which they occur, with refugees flowing into bordering countries and then across the globe. Other nations, including the U.S., are then called on to...