In 1993, the United Nations dispatches Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire to far off Rwanda to oversee a fragile cease-fire. A brilliant, workaholic officer and charismatic commander, Dallaire encounters the shabby reality of a typical UN peacekeeping operation. He is forced to deal with far-away superiors and the studied indifference of the world's great powers while trying to take decisive action to stop the genocide of over 800,000 innocent civilians.