Closing Note: Final Unit and Looking Ahead

Unit 10.10 is the final content unit of the course. The material it covers, particularly the major genocides of the twentieth century, is morally difficult but historically essential. The Regents tests this unit heavily because the patterns it identifies (genocide as systematic state-organized violence, the development of international human rights law as response, the continuing inadequacy of that response in contemporary cases) are some of the most important political phenomena of the past century.

Three priorities for Maria's study. First, master the Genocide Convention definition because the strict legal definition (intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part) is testable. Second, hold the four main genocide cases (Armenian, Holocaust, Cambodian, Rwandan) clearly in mind with dates, victim groups, perpetrators, approximate death tolls, and methods. Third, understand the international response trajectory: Nuremberg to UDHR to the international criminal tribunals to the ICC to R2P. This trajectory is the spine of the unit.

This unit pairs unusually well with extemp speech. Contemporary human rights questions, debates about humanitarian intervention, the rise of authoritarianism, the persecution of minorities in many countries, and the future of international institutions are all common extemp topics. Maria's command of this material will serve her well in many contexts beyond the Regents exam.