The New Killing Fields: Massacre and the Politics of Intervention

by Kira Brunner, Nicolaus Mills

The New Killing Fields revisits Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and East Timor-sites of four of the worst instances of state-sponsored killing in the last half of the twentieth century-in order to reconsider the success and failure of U.S. and U.N. military and humanitarian intervention. Through original essays and reporting by, among others, David Rieff, Peter Maass, Philip Gourevitch, William Shawcross, George Packer, Bill Berkeley, and Samantha Power, The New Killing Fields reaches beyond headlines to ask vital questions about the future of peacekeeping in the next century. In addition, theoretical essays by Michael Walzer and Michael Ignatieff frame the issue of both past and future intervention in terms of today's post-Cold War reality. As human rights abuses increasingly occur in "failed states" such as Afghanistan, which pose international security threats, the future of human rights will not be, as it once was, considered solely a question of the beneficence and charity of the West. The prominent group of reporters and academics assembled here ponder these questions in light of their extensive experience, and reveal a fascinating set of conclusions, and further questions, about the future of human rights in the next century.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, War

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Joseph Stieb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting little volume about humanitarian intervention from right around the heyday of this doctrine/set of ideas. Features conceptual essays about hum int and then journalistic accounts of crimes in Rwanda, Bosnia, and East Timor. I learned the most about the latter country. Not a bad intro to the concept of hum int. and the problem of genocide in the post-CW world, although Samantha Power's Problem from Hell still takes the cake on those topics without a doubt.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spanning some of the worst bloodshed to have existed in the last half of the 20th century (and pre-dating 9/11 & the inevitable wars after that), The New Killing Fields is a collection of journalist reports, political commentary/opinions, and chilling eyewitness accounts from those lucky enough to survive the horrors. The book looks into the many problems of intervention and addresses those difficult questions such as if and when a country that has the resources to intervene and prevent a massacre/genocide in another country, should take action or not, and all the politics that go along with it.

The New Killing Fields offers short but interesting recaps on Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and East Timor, so this book could serve as a useful refresher or starting point for those looking into these parts of history.

[Markus Christoph schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book to educate yourself on genocide and intervention, or lack thereof, of the 1990's.

Real rating: 3.5

[Shea Mastison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of 14 essays, and a few "eyewitness accounts" about genocide in our post-Holocaust world. It's only argument is that sovereignty is not an individual or collective right; and that governments must police one another to prevent each other from behaving in a way that violates their populace's rights on a large scale level.

The three main cases are on Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and East Timor. Each author contributes one essay about the area in which they were most active; and explains why it was the duty of other nations to intervene to prevent the ethnic cleansing and partisan fighting in that part of the globe.

Predictably, the "bad neighbor" neoconservative argument is overused. "But, what if Canada began killing its citizens; certainly it would destabilize the American government" is the gist; but the principle applies to every piece of land around the globe--or so they claim. They also conveniently ignore the seemingly contradictory notion of condemning inactive Western politicians for their lack of moral fortitude when handling genocide, while simultaneously making the argument that these people should be trusted fully to chose what countries to invade.

Overall, the book provides some interesting history; but its central argument has all the strength of Dick Cheney's heart.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book examines modern day genocide - those taking place in the era of 24 hour news coverage when we can no longer say "we didn't know". It's an edited volume focusing on the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and East Timor. I was most impressed by Samantha Power's chapter. She points out that the US and Europe are united in the pledge of "never again" and yet won't take risks to suppress genocide mostly because of the political costs. The US waged an air campaign in Bosnia that ended the genocide and was the only one with domestic public pressure to intervene. She states that Sept 11 2001 altered the US perception that nationality can, in fact, be enough to be a target. At the same time, the US views genocide prevention as a luxury it can't afford while protecting Americans. One last thought: some of these modern genocides aren't carried out by an organized military. The author of the chapter on Bosnia points out that many members of the Serbian army were just bullies without any kind of military discipline ("Ho Chi Minh would have booted his fat ass out of the army").

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you hate killing fields as much as i do you will be intrigued by this book.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking and even though it was written prior to the Iraqi war, this book is still relevant to today's politics