Recent events in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, East Timor and Iraq have demonstrated with appalling clarity that the threat of genocide is still a major issue within world politics. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject of genocide. It explains the history of genocide from pre-modern times to the present day and illustrates this with a wide variety of case studies. The book also examines the differing interpretations of genocide from psychology, sociology, anthropology and political science and analyses the influence of race, ethnicity, nationalism and gender on genocides. In the final section, the author examines how we punish those responsible for waging genocide and how the international community can prevent further bloodshed.

List of illustrations --About the author -- Introduction -- Overview -- origins of genocide -- Genocide in prehistory, antiquity, and early modernity -- Vendée uprising -- Zulu genocide -- Naming genocide : Raphael Lemkin -- Defining genocide : the UN Convention -- Bounding genocide : comparative genocide studies -- Discussion -- Personal observations -- Contested cases -- Atlantic slavery -- Area bombing and nuclear warfare -- UN sanctions against Iraq -- 9/11 -- Structural and institutional violence -- Is genocide ever justified? -- Suggestions for further study -- Notes -- Imperialism, war, and social revolution -- Imperialism and colonialism -- Colonial and imperial genocides -- Imperial famines -- Congo "rubber terror" -- Japanese in East and Southeast Asia -- US in Indochina -- Soviets in Afghanistan -- note on genocide and imperial dissolution -- Genocide and war -- First World War and the dawn of industrial death -- Second World War and the "barbarization of warfare" -- Genocide and social revolution -- nuclear revolution and "omnicide" -- Suggestions for further study -- Notes -- Contents: List of illustrations; About the author; Introduction; pt. 1.; Overview; 1. The origins of genocide; Genocide in prehistory, antiquity, and early modernity; The Vendée uprising; Zulu genocide; Naming genocide : Raphael Lemkin; Defining genocide : the UN Convention; Bounding genocide : comparative genocide studies; Discussion; Personal observations; Contested cases; Atlantic slavery; Area bombing and nuclear warfare; UN sanctions against Iraq; 9/11; Structural and institutional violence; Is genocide ever justified?; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 2.; Imperialism, war, and social revolution; Imperialism and colonialism; Colonial and imperial genocides; Imperial famines; The Congo "rubber terror"; The Japanese in East and Southeast Asia; The US in Indochina; The Soviets in Afghanistan; A note on genocide and imperial dissolution; Genocide and war; The First World War and the dawn of industrial death; The Second World War and the "barbarization of warfare"; Genocide and social revolution; The nuclear revolution and "omnicide"; Suggestions for further study; Notes; pt. 2.; Cases; 3.; Genocides of indigenous peoples; Introduction; Colonialism and the discourse of extinction; The conquest of the Americas; Spanish America; The United States and Canada; Other genocidal strategies; A contemporary case : the Maya of Guatemala; Australia's Aborigines and the Namibian Herero; Genocide in Australia; The Herero genocide; Denying genocide, celebrating genocide; Complexities and caveats; Indigenous revival; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 4. The Armenian genocide; Introduction; Origins of the genocide; War, massacre, and deportation; The course of the Armenian genocide; The aftermath; The denial; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 5.; Stalin's terror; The Bolsheviks seize power; Collectivization and famine; The Gulag; The Great Purge of 1937-38; The war years; The destruction of national minorities; Stalin and genocide; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 6. The Jewish Holocaust; Introduction; Origins; "Ordinary Germans" and the Nazis; The turn to mass murder; Debating the Holocaust; Intentionalists vs. functionalists; Jewish resistance; The allies and the churches : could the Jews have been saved?; Willing executioners?; Israel and the Jewish Holocaust; Is the Jewish Holocaust "uniquely unique"?; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 7.; Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge; Origins of the Khmer Rouge; War and revolution, 1970-75; A genocidal ideology; A policy of "urbicide", 1975; "Base people" vs. "new people"; Cambodia's holocaust, 1975-79; Genocide against Buddhists and ethnic minorities; Aftermath : politics and the quest for justice; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 8.; Bosnia and Kosovo; Origins and onset; Gendercide and genocide in Bosnia; The international dimension; Kosovo, 1998-99; Aftermaths; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 9.; Holocaust in Rwanda; Introduction : horror and shame; Background to genocide; Genocidal frenzy; Aftermath; Suggestions for further study; Notes; pt. 3.; Social science perspectives; 10.; Psychological perspectives; Narcissism, greed, and fear; Narcissism; Greed; Fear; Genocide and humiliation; The psychology of perpetrators; The Zimbardo experiments; The psychology of rescuers; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 11. The sociology and anthropology of genocide; Introduction; Sociological perspectives; The sociology of modernity; Ethnicity and ethnic conflict; Ethnic conflict and violence "specialists"; "Middleman minorities"; Anthropological perspectives; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 12.; Political science and international relations; Empirical investigations; The changing face of war; Democracy, war, and genocide/democide; Norms and prohibition regimes; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 13.; Gendering genocide; Gendercide vs. root-and-branch genocide; Women and genocide; Gendercidal institutions; Genocide and violence against homosexuals; Are men more genocidal than women?; A note on gendered propaganda; Suggestions for further study; Notes; pt. 4. The future of genocide; 14.; Memory, forgetting, and denial; The struggle over historical memory; Germany and "the search for a usable past"; The politics of forgetting; Genocide denial : motives and strategies; Denial and free speech; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 15.; Justice, truth, and redress; Leipzig, Constantinople, Nuremberg, Tokyo; The international criminal tribunals : Yugoslavia and Rwanda; Jurisdictional issues; The concept of a victim group; Gender and genocide; National trials; The "mixed tribunals" : Cambodia and Sierra Leone; Another kind of justice : Rwanda's gacaca experiment; The Pinochet case; The International Criminal Court (ICC); International citizens' tribunals; Truth and reconciliation; The challenge of redress; Suggestions for further study; Notes; 16.; Strategies of intervention and prevention; Warning signs; Humanitarian intervention; Sanctions; The United Nations; When is military intervention justified?; A standing "peace army"?; Ideologies and individuals; The role of the honest witness; Ideologies, religious and secular; Conclusion; Suggestions for further study; Notes. pt. 2. 3. The The A The 4. The The The The 5. The The The The The destruction of national minorities -- Stalin and genocide -- Suggestions for further study -- Notes -- 6. The The 7. A A 8. The 9. Holocaust in Rwanda -- Introduction : horror and shame -- Background to genocide -- Genocidal frenzy -- Aftermath -- Suggestions for further study -- Notes -- pt. 3. 10. The The The 11. The The 12. The 13. A note on gendered propaganda -- Suggestions for further study -- Notes -- pt. 4. The 14. The The 15. The The The The The The 16. The A The role of the honest witness -- Ideologies, religious and secular -- Conclusion -- Suggestions for further study -- Notes.