Genocide at the Security Council 1946–2024

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Genocide in Security Council debates

Between 1946 and 2024, the UN Security Council records contain 167,642 speeches from 9,464 meetings. Of these, 4,133 (2.47%) mention genocide or related forms, such as genocidal. Explore when the word appears, who uses it and what the surrounding passages say.

One square is 1,000 speeches; a filled square, speeches that mention the word.

Speeches in the corpus
167,642

across 9,464 meeting records, 86.85 million words

Speeches using genocide
4,133

2.47% of all speeches. Forms such as genocide and genocidal count together.

Occurrences of the word
7,747

1.87 per speech that uses it

Peak year by share
1994

the largest proportion of speeches; 2024 had the most occurrences

Counts and speech volume

The records contain 1,038 occurrences in 2024, compared with 226 in 1994. Annual speech numbers also changed: the final year has 2.92 times the first year's total. Compare counts with the share of speeches using the term to distinguish repeated mentions from wider use across speeches.

Occurrences and share of speeches, 1946–2024

Did the Council come to talk about genocide more, or simply to talk more?

Computed from the record
View annual values as a table
YearOccurrencesShare of speeches
194600.00%
194720.03%
1948540.51%
194910.09%
195000.00%
195100.00%
195210.12%
195300.00%
195400.00%
195500.00%
195610.12%
1957331.90%
195800.00%
195911.18%
1960171.08%
1961251.28%
196210.19%
1963171.87%
1964231.26%
1965311.02%
196610.08%
1967191.01%
1968230.86%
1969141.09%
197070.58%
1971210.84%
1972381.52%
1973241.12%
1974160.89%
197540.38%
1976231.00%
1977221.39%
1978272.69%
1979482.83%
1980301.57%
1981231.76%
1982813.15%
1983642.80%
1984151.20%
1985241.44%
1986281.18%
1987323.09%
198860.67%
1989111.34%
1990121.08%
199150.85%
1992412.76%
19931003.87%
19942266.50%
19951314.23%
19961213.12%
1997241.09%
1998753.02%
19991454.27%
20002363.45%
20011392.82%
20021142.46%
20031171.96%
20041783.40%
20051563.87%
20061473.18%
20071183.74%
20081272.35%
20091282.64%
20101132.32%
20111091.73%
20121312.61%
20132024.05%
20146585.20%
20154624.37%
20162702.98%
20171872.44%
20182212.28%
20192271.95%
2020371.63%
20211562.56%
20223902.79%
20233982.76%
20241,0385.94%
Source

04_series.py → series/annual.json, series/change_points.json

Download

Testing for a change

The test for genocide identifies 1978 as the best-supported split; the later share is 4.95 times the earlier share. This comparison summarises two periods. It neither dates a historical turning point nor explains why usage changed.

The vocabulary, word by word, 1946–2024

How does use of genocide compare with related terms over time?

Computed from the record
View the drawn shares as a table
Yeargenocideethnic cleansingcrimes against humanitywar crimesmassacremass killing
19460.00%0.00%0.12%0.04%0.27%0.00%
19470.03%0.00%0.05%0.00%0.29%0.00%
19480.51%0.00%0.08%0.03%1.28%0.10%
19490.09%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.43%0.00%
19500.00%0.00%0.00%0.06%0.58%0.00%
19510.00%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.42%0.00%
19520.12%0.00%0.24%0.12%0.35%0.00%
19530.00%0.00%0.00%0.00%1.69%0.00%
19540.00%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.96%0.00%
19550.00%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.99%0.00%
19560.12%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.35%0.00%
19571.90%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.52%0.00%
19580.00%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.38%0.00%
19591.18%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.00%
19601.08%0.00%0.25%0.41%1.99%0.50%
19611.28%0.00%0.46%0.00%3.30%0.27%
19620.19%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.19%0.19%
19631.87%0.00%0.34%0.00%1.70%0.00%
19641.26%0.00%0.63%0.08%4.09%0.16%
19651.02%0.00%0.14%0.00%0.68%0.00%
19660.08%0.00%0.08%0.42%0.68%0.00%
19671.01%0.00%0.17%0.59%1.77%0.25%
19680.86%0.00%0.31%0.61%1.54%0.06%
19691.09%0.00%1.09%0.30%1.38%0.00%
19700.58%0.00%0.47%0.00%1.05%0.00%
19710.84%0.00%0.00%0.00%0.99%0.00%
19721.52%0.00%0.99%0.46%2.74%0.08%
19731.12%0.00%0.20%0.26%2.76%0.00%
19740.89%0.00%1.43%0.00%3.30%0.00%
19750.38%0.00%0.09%0.00%1.99%0.09%
19761.00%0.00%0.40%0.30%3.66%0.15%
19771.39%0.00%1.31%0.17%5.49%0.44%
19782.69%0.00%0.51%0.00%4.87%0.38%
19792.83%0.00%0.49%0.24%2.67%0.00%
19801.57%0.00%1.24%0.25%3.47%0.00%
19811.76%0.00%0.75%0.13%2.89%0.00%
19823.15%0.00%0.73%0.06%5.39%0.00%
19832.80%0.00%0.78%0.06%4.00%0.06%
19841.20%0.00%2.16%0.00%2.16%0.12%
19851.44%0.00%1.52%0.36%4.26%0.14%
19861.18%0.00%1.11%0.16%3.71%0.00%
19873.09%0.00%3.34%0.00%4.08%0.12%
19880.67%0.00%1.21%0.00%2.96%0.13%
19891.34%0.00%0.54%0.00%1.48%0.00%
19901.08%0.00%0.54%0.22%5.28%0.22%
19910.85%0.00%1.02%0.17%0.68%0.00%
19922.76%8.39%2.44%1.38%6.26%0.32%
19933.87%7.95%1.15%2.36%2.29%0.14%
19946.50%7.70%1.19%1.97%8.00%0.12%
19954.23%4.05%1.56%1.25%3.11%0.37%
19963.12%0.69%0.56%0.94%2.00%0.06%
19971.09%0.91%0.18%1.45%0.63%0.18%
19983.02%1.01%1.08%1.44%1.94%0.57%
19994.27%3.16%2.66%2.72%2.94%0.39%
20003.45%1.21%2.31%3.28%1.71%0.11%
20012.82%0.81%1.73%1.62%1.45%0.07%
20022.46%0.43%1.88%3.71%2.52%0.18%
20031.96%0.34%2.14%3.40%1.35%0.09%
20043.40%0.92%2.51%4.26%1.19%0.03%
20053.87%1.68%3.27%4.58%1.12%0.14%
20063.18%1.13%2.93%3.64%1.56%0.00%
20073.74%1.45%3.65%3.96%0.26%0.04%
20082.35%1.28%3.05%3.72%1.01%0.03%
20092.64%0.88%3.43%4.61%1.09%0.03%
20102.32%0.75%2.25%2.91%0.78%0.03%
20111.73%0.45%2.66%3.58%0.75%0.12%
20122.61%0.86%4.39%4.20%1.88%0.10%
20134.05%1.13%5.49%6.62%1.41%0.22%
20145.20%1.06%5.20%5.54%1.83%0.18%
20154.37%0.80%4.68%5.60%1.49%0.18%
20162.98%0.72%3.21%4.93%1.05%0.08%
20172.44%0.97%3.80%4.70%0.62%0.09%
20182.28%0.77%3.36%4.47%0.84%0.08%
20191.95%0.38%2.60%3.66%0.96%0.11%
20201.63%0.26%2.15%2.73%1.04%0.00%
20212.56%0.23%2.56%3.48%1.03%0.34%
20222.79%0.46%3.62%5.98%1.14%0.12%
20232.76%0.61%3.43%5.54%1.37%0.17%
20245.94%1.03%2.67%4.99%2.44%0.35%

Each row is scaled to its own maximum · the number at the right is the share of all 167,642 speeches in the period

Source

04_series.py → series/annual.json

Download

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