Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Rowman & Littlefield International
Pages: 246
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-78348-917-6 • Hardback • June 2017 • $155.00 • (£119.00)
978-1-78348-918-3 • Paperback • May 2017 • $53.00 • (£41.00)
978-1-78348-919-0 • eBook • May 2017 • $50.00 • (£38.00)
Michael P. Jasinski is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh. He is author of Social Trust, Anarchy, and International Conflict (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and has published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution.
1. Introduction / 2. Genocide as Product of Means, Motive, and Opportunity / 3. Ottoman Empire and Turkey / 4. Germany in Two World Wars / 5. Eastern Europe and the Holocaust / 6. USSR and Cambodia / 7. The Rwanda Genocide / 8. Conclusions
Examining Genocides is an attempt to understand events that seems to defy explanation. Jasinski (Univ. of Wisconsin-Oshkosh) takes a semi-legal perspective in his analysis, determining that genocide can occur only when there is proper means, motive, and opportunity. The window of opportunity consists of two elements—conditions in which scapegoating becomes advantageous and there is a collectivity available for scapegoating. However, opportunity alone is not enough for genocide to occur. After opportunity arises, there must be an intentional decision to exploit the opportunity, usually made by the political leaders of the country. Finally, the means to commit genocide must be within the control of the political entrepreneurs. After proposing these elements to genocide, Jasinski uses several cases of genocide to examine whether they follow the means, motive, opportunity trifecta. Jasinski’s material is interesting, but the material it is based on would serve most readers better in fully understanding the phenomena of genocide. Advanced students and scholars will find this work of interest. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students through faculty.
— Choice Reviews
Lucidly written and cogently argued. Jasinski so perceptively identifies the forces at play that have led to the most heinous crimes of our era.
— Shay Pilnik, Executive Director of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Resource Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation
- Genocide is a highly-studied, but still little-understood area in politics, IR and conflict studies courses
- this textbook offers a new framework to help students identify the means, motive and opportunity for the escalation of violence to genocide
- the author carefully balances theory with clearly discussed case studies to shed new light on high profile genocides, from Rwanda to the Holocaust