Policy Forum Pod

December 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the Genocide Convention, which emerged following the global outrage at the mass atrocities of World War Two. Yet despite the world’s determination to end genocide, the past seven decades have seen numerous mass killings – from Indonesia and Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia, to the crisis currently unfolding in Myanmar. So is the Genocide Convention still fit for purpose? On this week’s podcast, hosts Julia Ahrens and Luke Glanville hear from an international legal expert, a historian, and an atrocity forecaster. Topics discussed include whether political groups should be included in the legal definition of genocide, why the recent ethnic cleansing in Myanmar was not just predictable but predicted, and why the rise of China might be bad news for the prevention of genocide. Melanie O’Brien is a Senior lecturer at the Law School at the University of Western Australia. She specialises in international criminal law, human rights law, peacekeeping and feminist legal theory. Sh