Interviews, Videos, and Podcasts
Institute for African Studies, Elliott School of International Affairs (2020)
Jennifer Cooke, Director of the Institute for African Studies at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, interviewed me about From Hope to Horrorin a July 7, 2020, virtual program before opening the floor to questions from the audience. She closed with praise for the book and the detail it offers scholars seeking a thorough understanding of why Rwanda descended into genocide and what we can do to avoid such catastrophes in future. View the full video here.
“The Legacy of the Rwanda Genocide,” University of Cambridge Panel (2020)
This three-person virtual panel moderated by Dr. Thomas Peak, Acting Chief Administrator of the Center for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge, England, examined lessons for today from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. I shared the virtual stage with co-panelists Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, former Tanzanian ambassador to the United States who served on her country’s facilitation team at the Rwandan peace talks (1992-1993), and Dr. Devon Curtis, senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies, Cambridge. View the full virtual panel discussion here.
New Books in Genocide Studies” podcast, New Books Network (2020)
Kelly McFall, Professor of History, Newman University, Kansas, interviewed me about From Hope to Horror: Diplomacy and the Making of the Rwanda Genocide for his podcast “New Books in Genocide Studies.” In his introduction to June 5, 2020, posting on the New Books Network, McFall called the book “important and valuable,” noting that it is “an unusual combination of memoir, reflection and lessons learned.” Listen to the full podcast interview here.
Failure, an on-line magazine covering failures and successes in history (2020)
Jason Zasky, founder and editor of Failure, in an interview posted May 23, 2020, asks about major themes in From Hope to Horror, including why diplomacy failed and ways future diplomatic efforts can more effectively prevent the escalation of violence in similar situations. Read the full interview here.
Francois Nsanzuwera – Appeals Counsel, Voices of the Tribunal (2016)
In this one-hour 2016 YouTube video, Rwandan Francois-Xavier Nsanzuwera, Prosecutor of Kigali before the genocide and later Appeals Counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), provides a moving, personal, authoritative account of his experiences before, during and after, the genocide. Watch Nsanzuwera’s interview made for the Voices of the Tribunal series, here.
“International Decision-Making in the Age of Genocide” (2014)
Michael Dobbs, journalist and author, interviewed me prior to my participation in a June 2014 conference on “International Decision-Making in the Age of Genocide.” Dobbs, who helped organize the conference, talked with me about my recollections from the time of the genocide and where I thought diplomacy had gone wrong. View that interview here: (link)
The conference, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, was co-sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and The Hague Institute for Global Justice, with documentary support from The National Security Archives, a non-governmental organization based in Washington DC. It brought together—for the first time since1994—a broad cross-section of men and women—decisions makers and observers—who had been involved in trying to bring peace to Rwanda before, during and after the Rwanda genocide. Its purpose was to look back at what had happened and examine what might have been done differently to avoid the catastrophe that occurred.
Find information on and documentation for the conference here.
Find an annotated conference transcript here.
“Southern Sudan in Transition: Promoting and Protecting Human Rights”
This panel of prominent speakers held at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, March 25, 2011, Andrew Natsios, former USAID Director, and I were discussants following panelist presentations. Listen to this event here.
“Sometimes in April” (2005)
This movie recounts early days during the genocide in Rwanda when more than 800,000 Rwandans, mostly ethnic Tutsi and but also some Hutu political opponents, were brutally slaughtered by Hutu killers. Many Rwandans consider this the most authentic of the several films about Rwanda’s horror. It can be accessed through Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube.
Frontline’s “Ghosts of Rwanda” (2003)
This television documentary commemorating the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, aired April 1, 2004. The previous October I was among the Department of State officials interviewed for this comprehensive account of the years leading to the Rwanda genocide. Read the my full interview here. The Frontline website for “Ghosts” has transcriptions of full interviews with each participant and video excerpts here.
Go to my Media page/Videos and Podcasts tab for link to the documentary website with interview and video excerpts.
ADST Foreign Affairs Oral History Project (2003)
Charles Stuart Kennedy, at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST), interviewed me beginning October 29, 2003, just a couple of days before I retired from the Foreign Service. Over at least four sessions, he delved into my life and my experiences in the Foreign Service. See the entire, copyrighted interview here.
Association for Diplomatic and Training (ADST): Oral History Project (2003)
Charles Stuart Kennedy has interviewed Foreign Service Officers as their careers were ending for many years. I was honored to be an interviewee on October 29, 2003, just weeks after I retired in September 2003. Read the full interview here.