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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Other warfare & defence issues > War crimes
In the wake of unthinkable atrocities, it is reasonable to ask how
any population can move on from the experience of genocide. Simply
remembering the past can, in the shadow of mass death, be
retraumatizing. So how can such momentous events be memorialized in
a way that is productive and even healing for survivors? Genocide
memorials tell a story about the past, preserve evidence of the
violence that occurred, and provide emotional support to survivors.
But the goal of amplifying survivors' voices can fade amid larger
narratives entrenched in political motivations.In After
Genocide,Nicole Fox investigates the ways memorials can shape the
experiences of survivors decades after mass violence has ended. She
examines how memorializations can both heal and hurt, especially
when they fail to represent all genders, ethnicities, and classes
of those afflicted. Drawing on extensive interviews with Rwandans,
Fox reveals their relationships to these spaces and uncovers those
voices silenced by the dominant narrative-arguing that the erasure
of such stories is an act of violence itself. The book probes the
ongoing question of how to fit survivors in to the dominant
narrative of healing and importantly demonstrates how memorials can
shape possibilities for growth, national cohesion, reconciliation,
and hope for the future.
International justice has become a crucial part of the ongoing
political debates about the future of shattered societies like
Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Cambodia, and Chile. Why do our governments
sometimes display such striking idealism in the face of war crimes
and atrocities abroad, and at other times cynically abandon the
pursuit of international justice altogether? Why today does justice
seem so slow to come for war crimes victims in the Balkans? In this
book, Gary Bass offers an unprecedented look at the politics behind
international war crimes tribunals, combining analysis with
investigative reporting and a broad historical perspective. The
Nuremberg trials powerfully demonstrated how effective war crimes
tribunals can be. But there have been many other important
tribunals that have not been as successful, and which have been
largely left out of today's debates about international justice.
This timely book brings them in, using primary documents to examine
the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, the Armenian
genocide, World War II, and the recent wars in the former
Yugoslavia.
Bass explains that bringing war criminals to justice can be a
military ordeal, a source of endless legal frustration, as well as
a diplomatic nightmare. The book takes readers behind the scenes to
see vividly how leaders like David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill,
Franklin Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton have wrestled with these
agonizing moral dilemmas. The book asks how law and international
politics interact, and how power can be made to serve the cause of
justice.
Bass brings new archival research to bear on such events as the
prosecution of the Armenian genocide, presenting surprising
episodes that add to the historical record. His sections on the
former Yugoslavia tell--with important new discoveries--the secret
story of the politicking behind the prosecution of war crimes in
Bosnia, drawing on interviews with senior White House officials,
key diplomats, and chief prosecutors at the war crimes tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia. Bass concludes that despite the obstacles,
legalistic justice for war criminals is nonetheless worth pursuing.
His arguments will interest anyone concerned about human rights and
the pursuit of idealism in international politics.
From the 'show' trials of the 1920s and 1930s to the London
Conference, this book examines the Soviet role in the Nuremberg IMT
trial through the prism of the ideas and practices of earlier
Soviet legal history, detailing the evolution of Stalin's ideas
about the trail of Nazi war criminals. Stalin believed that an
international trial for Nazi war criminals was the best way to show
the world the sacrifices his country had made to defeat Hitler, and
he, together with his legal mouthpiece Andrei Vyshinsky, maintained
tight control over Soviet representatives during talks leading up
to the creation of the Nuremberg IMT trial in 1945, and the trial
itself. But Soviet prosecutors at Nuremberg were unable to deal
comfortably with the complexities of an open, western-style legal
proceeding, which undercut their effectiveness throughout the
trial. However, they were able to present a significant body of
evidence that underscored the brutal nature of Hitler's racial war
in Russia from 1941-45, a theme which became central to Stalin's
efforts to redefine international criminal law after the war.
Stalin's Soviet Justice provides a nuanced analysis of the Soviet
justice system at a crucial turning point in European history and
it will be vital reading for scholars and advanced students of the
legal history of the Soviet Union, the history of war crimes and
the aftermath of the Second World War.
Reassessing the Cambodian genocide through the lens of global
capitalist development. James Tyner reinterprets the place of
agriculture under the Khmer Rouge, positioning it in new ways
relative to Marxism, capitalism, and genocide. The Cambodian
revolutionaries' agricultural management is widely viewed by
critics as irrational and dangerous, and it is invoked as part of
wider efforts to discredit leftist movements. Researching the
specific functioning of Cambodia's transition from farms to
agriculture within the context of the global economy, Tyner comes
to a different conclusion. He finds that analysis of "actually
existing political economy"-as opposed to the Marxist
identification the Khmer Rouge claimed-points to overlap between
Cambodian practice and agrarian capitalism.Tyner argues that
dissolution of the traditional Khmer family farm under the aegis of
state capitalism is central to any understanding of the mass
violence unleashed by the Khmer Rouge. Seen less as a radical
outlier than as part of a global shift in farming and food
politics, the Cambodian tragedy imparts new lessons to our
understanding of the political economy of genocide.
In war, there is no easy victory. When troops invaded Iraq in 2003
to topple Saddam Hussein's regime, most people expected an easy
victory. Instead, the gamble we took was a grave mistake, and its
ramifications continue to reverberate through the lives of
millions, in Iraq and the West. As we gain more distance from those
events, it can be argued that many of the issues facing us today -
the rise of the Islamic State, increased Islamic terrorism,
intensified violence in the Middle East, mass migration, and more -
can be traced back to the decision to invade Iraq. In The Iraq War,
award-winning documentary maker James Bluemel collects first-hand
testimony from those who lived through the horrors of the invasion
and whose actions were dictated by such extreme circumstances. It
takes in all sides of the conflict - working class Iraqi families
watching their country erupt into civil war; soldiers and
journalists on the ground; American families dealing with the grief
of losing their son or daughter; parents of a suicide bomber coming
to terms with unfathomable events - to create the most in-depth and
multi-faceted portrait of the Iraq War to date. Accompanying a
major BBC series, James Bluemel's book is an essential account of a
conflict that continues to shape our world, and a startling
reminder of the consequences of our past decisions.
During a one-hundred-day period in 1994, Hutus murdered between
half a million and a million Tutsi in Rwanda. The numbers are
staggering; the methods of killing were unspeakable. Utilizing
personal interviews with trauma survivors living in Rwandan cities,
towns, and dusty villages, We Cannot Forget relates what happened
during this period and what their lives were like both prior to and
following the genocide.
Through powerful stories that are at once memorable, disturbing,
and informative, readers gain a critical sense of the tensions and
violence that preceded the genocide, how it erupted and was carried
out, and what these people faced in the first sixteen years
following the genocide.
On April 25th 1915, during the First World War, the famous Anzacs
landed ashore at Gallipoli. At the exact same moment, leading
figures of Armenian life in the Ottoman Empire were being arrested
in vast numbers. That dark day marks the simultaneous birth of a
national story - and the beginning of a genocide. When We Dead
Awaken - the first narrative history of the Armenian Genocide in
decades - draws these two landmark historical events together.
James Robins explores the accounts of Anzac Prisoners of War who
witnessed the genocide, the experiences of soldiers who risked
their lives to defend refugees, and Australia and New Zealand's
participation in the enormous post-war Armenian relief movement. By
exploring the vital political implications of this unexplored
history, When We Dead Awaken questions the national folklore of
Australia, New Zealand, and Turkey - and the mythology of Anzac Day
itself.
Principles of International Criminal Law is one of the most
influential textbooks in the field of international criminal
justice. This fourth edition builds on the highly-successful work
of the previous editions, setting out the general principles
governing international crimes as well as the fundamentals of both
substantive and procedural international criminal law. It provides
a detailed understanding of the sources and evolution of
international criminal law, demonstrating how it has developed, and
how its application has changed. The book assesses in detail the
four key international crimes as defined by the statute of the
International Criminal Court: genocide, crimes against humanity,
war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The new edition revises
and updates the work with developments in international criminal
justice since 2014. It includes substantial new material on
critical perspectives on international criminal justice, the
fragmentation of international criminal law, new war crimes of
prohibited means of warfare, and the prosecution of crimes
committed in Syria and Northern Iraq.The book retains its
highly-acclaimed systematic approach and consistent methodology,
making it essential reading for both students and scholars of
international criminal law, as well as practitioners and judges
working in the field.
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