Prelude to Genocide

David Rawson capped his twenty-eight-year career in the US Foreign Service as ambassador to Rwanda (1993–95) and to Mali (1996–99). After his retirement from the Foreign Service, he was a professor of political economy at Spring Arbor University, a distinguished visiting professor of politics at Hillsdale College, and a scholar in residence at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.

"In lucid prose, Rawson weaves an informative, readable story of the complicated diplomatic efforts leading to the Arusha Accords of 1993. Drawing on vast documentation as well as his personal knowledge of the context, he provides a valuable perspective on the challenges—and ultimate failure—of the efforts to achieve peace. This thoughtful work adds important insights to our understanding of the road to ruin in Rwanda." "Rawson puts the bottom line up front––Arusha failed because the parties to the talks were seeking power, not peace....This book is the definitive work on the Arusha talks and the most detailed and best-documented account of a diplomatic negotiation that I know of." "In this story of frontline diplomacy David Rawson attempts to understand why negotiations failed to keep tragedy at bay in Rwanda.…[He] paints a revealing picture of struggling diplomacy and the dire consequences of failed conflict resolution." (Foreign Service Journal)