We know that often holding those who have carried out mass atrocities accountable is at times our best tool to prevent future atrocities.
Interpretation
Holding perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable can help prevent future violence.
Samantha Power emphasizes the importance of accountability for those who commit mass atrocities. By ensuring that there are consequences for these actions, we create a deterrent effect that can protect vulnerable populations from future violence and injustice.
In practice
In a speech about human rights, I would mention this quote to highlight the need for accountability in preventing future violence.
Sanctions did indeed help to bring Iran to the negotiating table. But sanctions did not stop the advance of Iran's nuclear program. Negotiations have done that, and it is in our interest not to deny ourselves the chance to achieve a long-term, comprehensive solution that would deny Iran a nuclear weapon.
Zimbabweans are severely malnourished, and deaths from starvation occur even in the cities. The country has not yet suffered nationwide famine only because international donors have stepped in.
Western governments have generally tried to contain genocide by appeasing its architects. But the sad record of the last century shows that the walls the United States tries to build around genocidal societies almost inevitably shatter.
No more than a surgeon can operate while tweeting can you reach your potential with one ear in, one ear out. You actually have to reacquaint yourself with concentration. We all do.
When dictators feel their support slipping among adults, it is not unusual for them to alter school textbooks in the hope of enlisting impressionable youths in their cause.
Throughout history, when societies face tough economic times, we have seen democratic reforms deferred, decreased trust in government, persecution of minority groups, and a general shrinking of the democratic space.
Leadership is providing inspiration and vision, then developing and empowering others to achieve this vision.
The most common source of mistakes in management decisions is the emphasis on finding the right answer rather than the right question.
Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.
We have to lock up people, without trial, whether they are communists, whether they are language chauvinists, whether they are religious extremists. If you donβt do that, the country would be in ruins.
I don't think that there's a hard-and-fast deadline. . . .What we have said all along is that this is not an open-ended process, we are not in this just to talk for talk's sake. . . . We expect prompt, concrete steps to be taken over the next couple of weeks.
For organizations seriously committed to making teamwork a cultural reality, I'm convinced that 'the right people' are the ones who have three virtues in common - humility, hunger, and people smarts.
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