Planning Military Responses to Mass Atrocities

Debates about whether to respond to mass atrocities with military force frequently neglect important practical questions. How can military operations most effectively protect civilians from mass atrocity and genocide? How well-prepared are the United States and other military forces to plan and deploy such operations?

The Mass Atrocity Response Operations (MARO) Project addresses the concrete and practical challenges of using military force to halt ongoing mass atrocities. The project is a collaborative effort from the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute.

This event introduced the "MARO Military Planning Handbook," the culmination of the MARO Project's efforts over the past two and a half years to develop concepts and tools, and featured remarks from current and former U.S. military and civilian leaders.

The event was co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Speakers

• Col. John Kardos, Opening Remarks
  U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
• Lawrence Woocher, Moderator
  United States Institute of Peace
• Janine Davidson, Discussant
  Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Plans, Office of the Secretary of Defense
• Sarah Sewall, Discussant
  MARO Project Founder and Faculty Director, Harvard Kennedy School
  
• Sally Chin, Discussant
  MARO Project Director, Harvard Kennedy School
• Col. William Flavin (Ret), Discussant
  Directing Professor, U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
• Lyston Lea, Discussant
  Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, U.S. Department of State

Explore Further

• Watch a video of this event
• For more Information on the Project: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/cchrp/maro/index.php