Josh's review of A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power
this book is a really powerful critique of US policy of "nonintervention" in relation to genocide throughout the 20th century--both for international interests and our own interests. she's a harvard prof so its a bit thick but really good. i just read the first chapter and the chapter on rwanda & skimmed the rest in prep for a coming trip to rwanda but it was really illuminating to understand in rwanda the motivations that led US officials to avoid involvement in rwanda. one of the clear pictures that emerges is that a big part of the problem is that we have had no real "policy" to help motivate action so public pressure to remain uninvolved (or lack of pressure to act) has driven action. the call for our country to develop a stronger proactive international policy regarding genocide becomes urgently clear.
it was also powerful to see genocide framed beyond the holocaust to encompass the broader global scenarios of the 20th century (armenians, cambodia, ...more
it was also powerful to see genocide framed beyond the holocaust to encompass the broader global scenarios of the 20th century (armenians, cambodia, ...more
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