Review by Choice Review
Smith (London School of Economics and Political Science) examines whether the norm against genocide has influenced European governmental behavior. She argues that the norm actually comprises two dimensions--a narrow legal prohibition based on the Genocide Convention and a more general (social) prohibition that is broader and more flexible. After reviewing Europe's limited role in the development of the Genocide Convention, Smith examines European responses to genocide in Nigeria, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and elsewhere during the Cold War. In chapters 4 through 7, she presents case studies of four post-Cold War genocides--Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Kosovo, and Darfur. As with the Cold War genocides, Smith finds that European governments avoided defining gross human rights abuses as genocide because they were eager to avoid the obligations arising from such judgments. Europeans are proud of their multilateralism and normative orientation, but this study of inaction in the face of systemic atrocities should perhaps lead to greater self-examination to ensure greater correspondence between aspirations and deeds. Smith's book is a significant achievement, accessible to both scholars and public officials. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduate collections and above. M. Amstutz Wheaton College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
