We were all haunted by the inhumanity that occurred in the places Obama mentioned, among them Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. The capacity for cruelty knows no regional boundaries, and neither must the impulse to take action to save lives and avert suffering.
In Kosovo, we are working hard to prevent such horrible things from happening again by seeking to create an open, multiethnic democracy. We have embarked on a constructive dialogue with Serbia to close the dark chapter of our past and begin a new one based on peace, tolerance, and mutual respect. During my official visit to the United States earlier this month, I proposed establishing a committee for truth and reconciliation to help both Albanians and Serbs leave the bitter past behind. We stand ready to work hard with all our neighbors, including Serbia, to ensure that all mass atrocities are stopped forever.
Other nations of the world must also find a way to do collectively and internationally what Obama has committed the United States to doing on a national basis. Working through international organizations -- global and regional -- the nations of the world should establish international counterparts to America's Atrocities Prevention Board. We must get better about sharing information on threatened atrocities and coordinate international efforts to prevent them.
As part of this effort, the United Nations should expand the role of the special advisor on the prevention of genocide to lead a secretariat and information clearinghouse for the U.N. equivalent of the Atrocities Prevention Board. Within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the functions of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights should be expanded to perform a similar function for the organization's 56 participating states in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and North America.
As President Obama rightly reminds us, "'Never again' is a challenge to nations." It is up to all of us to answer that challenge.
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