Bridging the Atrocity Prevention Gap between the International and the Local: Lessons Learned from Meso-Level Leadership in Ukraine and Syria

This paper explores meso-level approaches to atrocity prevention that incorporate a wider array of local expertise at all stages, from early warning to transitional justice. Specifically, we treat meso-level approaches as encompassing local leadership and advocacy across bottom-up processes, grassroots efforts, victim-led activism, and civil society mobilization. We draw from two contemporary cases of mass atrocities, Ukraine and Syria, which exemplify such efforts, using primary interview data with meso-level actors. First, we examine atrocity risk early warning in Ukraine, where prescient local expertise at the meso-level failed to influence international responses, asking what went wrong and what more could be done to meaningfully incorporate their knowledge. Second, we explore how local efforts at justice-seeking in Syria filled accountability gaps left behind by failures at higher levels, as well as the lessons learned from attempts to localize transitional justice. We also present a framework developed to better learn and listen to meso-level expertise as a priority for the field of atrocity prevention. We conclude with practical recommendations for policymakers and practitioners working across early warning and transitional justice contexts.