Monday, March 20, 2006
The Limits of Humanitarian Intervention
The Limits of Humanitarian Intervention: Genocide in Rwanda
by Alan J. Kuperman
Hardback: 162 pages
Publisher: Brookings Institute Press, 2001
ISBN: 0-8157-0086-5
This was in interesting book because it defends the US government's actions during the genocide in 1994. The author argues that the Clinton administration was not aware of the atrocities being committed until three-fourths of the victims had already been killed. In the best case, he claims, with the United States acting promptly and throwing all of their resources at stopping the killing, we could have save a maximum of 125,000 out of the estimated 800,000 victims. This is quite different from the conventional wisdom, which says we could have easily stopped the genocide if we had wanted to.
This book provides an interesting perspective on humanitarian intervention, and it presents a number of lessons we can from the Rwanda situation. The author writes as if he is preparing a report for a government agency, so some readers might find his style a little dry. He utilizes facts and statistics well, though, making his counterfactuals realistic and believable.
by Alan J. Kuperman
Hardback: 162 pages
Publisher: Brookings Institute Press, 2001
ISBN: 0-8157-0086-5
This was in interesting book because it defends the US government's actions during the genocide in 1994. The author argues that the Clinton administration was not aware of the atrocities being committed until three-fourths of the victims had already been killed. In the best case, he claims, with the United States acting promptly and throwing all of their resources at stopping the killing, we could have save a maximum of 125,000 out of the estimated 800,000 victims. This is quite different from the conventional wisdom, which says we could have easily stopped the genocide if we had wanted to.
This book provides an interesting perspective on humanitarian intervention, and it presents a number of lessons we can from the Rwanda situation. The author writes as if he is preparing a report for a government agency, so some readers might find his style a little dry. He utilizes facts and statistics well, though, making his counterfactuals realistic and believable.
permaLink posted by Kylan @ 8:38 AM 
