U.S. Relations with the Islamic World

[A] genocide label is unlikely to have a practical effect on Islamic State's violent ambition. I mean, this is a group that has an apocalyptic worldview. I don't suspect that this is going to impact the way that they operate.

[If multiple groups are declared victims of genocide it would] impel the administration to advance in ways I don’t think they are prepared to do now. It’s not dissimilar to what happened in Rwanda...My God, especially in this election cycle. I think it would have an impact, and not – from their point of view – a positive one.

In the immediate and short term, I think, the rhetorical power of the label will certainly impel the U.S. government to fashion a more comprehensive policy for helping to protect Christians and other minorities being targeted and persecuted by ISIS.