Benjamin A. Valentino finds that ethnic hatreds or discrimination; undemocratic systems of government; and dysfunctions in society play a much smaller role in mass killing and genocide than is commonly assumed. He shows that the impetus for mass killing usually originates from a relatively small group of powerful leaders and is often carried out without the active support of broader society. Mass killing; in his view; is a brutal political or military strategy designed to accomplish leaders' most important objectives; counter threats to their power; and solve their most difficult problems.In order to capture the full scope of mass killing during the twentieth century; Valentino does not limit his analysis to violence directed against ethnic groups; or to the attempt to destroy victim groups as such; as do most previous studies of genocide. Rather; he defines mass killing broadly as the intentional killing of a massive number of noncombatants; using the criteria of 50;000 or more deaths within five years as a quantitative standard. Final Solutions focuses on three types of mass killing: communist mass killings like the ones carried out in the Soviet Union; China; and Cambodia; ethnic genocides as in Armenia; Nazi Germany; and Rwanda; and "counter-guerrilla" campaigns including the brutal civil war in Guatemala and the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.Valentino closes the book by arguing that attempts to prevent mass killing should focus on disarming and removing from power the leaders and small groups responsible for instigating and organizing the killing.
#2844013 in Books Cornell University Press 1998-05-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .82 x 6.20 x 9.17l; 1.07 #File Name: 0801431751236 pages
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A Very Strong EffortBy A CustomerWilson's take on the early Irish immigrants to America is both thought provoking and important. Some of his points are a little strong: I'm not certain that the United Irishmen can be seen as a primary reason for the downfall of the Federalist Party. Still; he backs up his assertions with reasonable facts; and in so doing certainly opens debate on the matter. He does a fine job of showing both the radical nature of these immigrants as well as their scattered geographic nature (Denis Driscol; who became editor of the Augusta [Georgia] Chronicle is a perfect example of both). Wilson's book also emphasizes the Irishness of the United Irishmen; a point which should not be overlooked; given how the Dissenters in Ireland were appropriated by the establishment after 1798; and how modern America wants to emphasize the "Scots-Irishness" of the Dissenters. Wilson reveals these men as truly IRISH in thought and action.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Revealing bookBy Andrew ScottWilson does a very good job of putting the political turmoil of the early American Republic into a global context. The Alien and Sedition Acts of the Adams administration are put into a very different focus when viewed alongside the 1798 rising in Ireland. United Irish exiles saw the pro-English Federalist agenda in a very personal light and the bulk of them became the "most God-provoking Democrats this side of Hell" in the words of one Federalist. All too often Irish influence in American politics is dated from the Famine immigrations; a situation Wilson atempts to rectify. An interesting book for both students of early American and Irish history.
