The genocides among us * WorldNetDaily * by Stephen Blank , Real Clear Wire

wnd.com · Feb 14, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Ottoman Armenians are marched to a prison in Kharpert, Armenia, by armed Turkish soldiers in April 1915. Up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in what is now recognized as the 20th century’s first genocide. On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army liberated Auschwitz. For that reason, January 27 has become International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Yet wherever we look, genocides are taking place or else governments are committing and/or inciting mass violence and/or genocides. Worse yet, many of these regimes committing these crimes enjoy strong support from other states, a fact that further inhibits resolute international action against them. In its waning days the Biden Administration determined that the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan (RSF) had committed genocide during the current conflict in Darfur, the site of an earlier genocidal war. One year later that war continues and has become internationalized as numerous foreign governments are intervening there. Yet those interventions have not led these governments or indigenous forces to pull back from such actions. Quite the contrary. The UN Special Advisor to the Secretary General For the Prevention of Genocide has reported that, “We see massive violations of international human rights law, direct attacks on civilians, noncompliance with international humanitarian law, which regulates conduct in relation to hostilities, and that the attacks are largely on civilians.” In Ukraine, Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine continues without letup despite ongoing efforts to bring about a negotiated peace. There can be little doubt that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine fully conforms to the UN’s definition of the term genocide. Putin’s 2021 manifesto depicted an independent Ukrainian state as a betrayal (his term) of Russia and the conduct of Russian forces, mass murders, rapes, deportation of Ukrainian children (a long-standing characteristic of Russian forces since the XV century), and the ongoing Russification of the territories occupied by Russian forces all confirm the genocidal intentions behind this invasion. Yet there is no mention in any of the reporting concerning negotiations to end hostilities in Ukraine of the issues of war crimes and/or reparations that are vital to any lasting peace. Indeed, Russia is currently trying to persuade the Trump. Administration to break the sanctions regime upon Russia to allow Russia to join Trump’s Board of Peace for the conflict in Gaza since membership supposedly costs $1 Billion. Of course, breaking the sanctions regime to give the aggressor in Ukraine membership on the Board of Peace is palpably absurd. Indeed, doing so would put an end to any efforts to discuss, let alone, obtain reparations or pursue justice for the victims of Russia’s war crimes. Similarly Hamas and Hezbollah’s attacks, not to mention those of their Iranian sponsor against Israel, have always been genocidal in intent as their founding documents and continuing rhetoric make clear. Moreover, the essence of the Iranian state’s operating system has been exposed during the most recent episode of Iran’s revolutionary crisis. Local health officials are now reporting that the regime killed over 30,000 people. And this mass violence comes on top of the systematic incitement to genocide while Iran’s clients Hamas and Hezbollah, show no signs of renouncing their genocidal actions or rhetoric. Neither does Iran. Yet we are now hearing not only that Trump wants to make a deal with Iran after threatening retribution for its massive repressions, but also his administration is deporting people back to Iran. In Hamas’ case neither Israeli or American military experts believe it will disarm as required for the next stage of Trump’s peace plan. And they have good reason for their skepticism. Hamas has consistently, up to now refused to disarm or stop its genocidal campaign against Israel and Jews abroad. Likewise, Hezbollah refuses to disarm or change its rhetoric of incitement to genocide. Despite the recrudescence of genocide in our times there is no global or merely international campaign against it or its leaders. In Sudan as of midsummer 2025, the RSF enjoys the support of Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, all of whom have turned a blind eye to its violence. In Ukraine, as far as can be told, there is no sign of Washington demanding punishment or trials for war crimes or reparations. Quite the contrary, those issues have evidently fallen off the table, so to speak. And in the case of Iran and its proxies Washington now seeks a deal with Tehran and it is quite unlikely that anyone except Israel will take on the challenge of disarming Hamas, which is a necessary precondition for the success of any peace program there, either Trump’s or that of somebody else. Thus 81 years after the end of World War II we may commemorate the liberation of the Nazi death camps but we are doing nothing to stop the progress of genocides across the globe. Here is another example of the deterioration of international order into a jungle-like environment. Leading members of the Trump Administration may strut around the stage of world politics boasting of our power as Trump, Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, and Secretary of Commerce Lutnick, to name a few, have done. But clearly their example stimulates bad actors across the globe to act with impunity in the commission of their crimes. Putin even seeks a reward in the form of an end to sanctions and renewed American investment in Russia not to mention a place as a guarantor of Middle East peace after the Russian weapons so liberally provided to Hamas and Hezbollah have served as the instruments of attempted genocide. American officials may therefore indulge in their hour of power. But setting free the forces of the jungle in world politics by disregarding genocide and even possibly rewarding its sponsors and/or authors undermines not only international morality but also our interests. Today’s genocidaires, should they win or even flourish for a time, are but an extreme symptom of the return of the jungle in world politics that now pervades the globe. Giving these “animals” the opportunity to work their will on their victims overlooks the fact that power unchained, “Must make perforce an universal prey, and last eat up himself.” Thus if we do not act to stop the rising tide of geocide and the nihilism of power associated with it, the recent official gloating about our power will be seen as empty boasts while we will once again have to take arms against energized international criminals to save both our interests and lives, not to mention our values. Dr. Stephen J. Blank is a Senior Fellow at Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is an internationally renowned expert on Russian and Chinese defense policy. He is the author of “Light from the East: Russia’s Quest for Great Power Status in Asia” (Taylor & Francis, 2023). He was a Professor of National Security Studies at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.