The ongoing crisis in Sudan's western Darfur region has become a symbol of the world's inability or unwillingness to stop genocidal violence. A group of US policy experts, led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, are calling for a more robust approach. The task force wants the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to focus enough effort on the threat of mass atrocities worldwide that genocides can be prevented before they start.

"Genocide is not the inevitable result of 'ancient hatreds' or irrational leaders," according to the report of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. Genocidal violence "requires planning and is carried out systematically. There are ways to recognize its signs and symptoms, and viable options to prevent it at every turn if we are committed and prepared," the report says.

Is it possible to anticipate the outbreak of genocide and inoculate against it? What role is there for the United States, other nations, and international bodies such as the United Nations? And why, given the international outcry against such mass atrocities, is it so hard to turn that concern into real action? We'll get answers to these and other questions in this edition of ON THE LINE

Our Guests:

• Lawrence Woocher: U.S. Institute of Peace, and one of the authors of the Genocide Prevention Task Force Report