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mark_lm's review against another edition
4.0
This Pulitzer Prize winning book is mainly a political history of the US response to the principal acts of genocide in the 20th century; the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian genocide, Saddam Hussein’s attack against the Iraqi Kurds, the Serbian attack against the Bosnian Muslims, the Rwandan Hutu attack against the Tutsis, and finally the specific events in Srebrenica and Kosovo. An overall summary would be that in almost all cases the United States did nothing, actively avoided doing anything, and in at least several cases made things worse e.g., when we demanded that UN peacekeeping forces be removed from Rwanda during the genocide. But there is much more here, of course, including explanations of why it is so difficult to interfere in an ongoing genocide, analyses of the various types of sophistry used to explain one’s failure to aid the persecuted, an excellent biographical discussion of the work of Raphael Lemkin (that I found more insightful than an actual biography of Raphael Lemkin that I have read), and, lest we abandon all hope, encouraging discussions of those who tried to help e.g., Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire, Former Ambassador to Croatia and Diplomat Peter Galbraith, and Canadian Major General of UNAMIR Roméo Dallaire.
The author was a war correspondent and one of Obama’s ambassadors to the UN. She is now the head of AID for President Biden. I don’t know anything about her except the contents of this book; it suggests that she is unusually well qualified.
Also, I enjoyed the quote from David Rieff, that based on our subsequent actions the slogan Never again! might be best defined as Never again would Germans be permitted to kill Jews in Europe in the 1940s.
The author was a war correspondent and one of Obama’s ambassadors to the UN. She is now the head of AID for President Biden. I don’t know anything about her except the contents of this book; it suggests that she is unusually well qualified.
Also, I enjoyed the quote from David Rieff, that based on our subsequent actions the slogan Never again! might be best defined as Never again would Germans be permitted to kill Jews in Europe in the 1940s.
annakmeyer's review against another edition
4.0
This book can pretty accurately be summed up with a quote from West Wing...
President Bartlet: Why is a Kundunese life worth less to me than an American one?
Will Bailey: I don't know, sir, but it is.
President Bartlet: Why is a Kundunese life worth less to me than an American one?
Will Bailey: I don't know, sir, but it is.
kentons's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was an excellent book. Powers has done a really good job of presenting a lot of information in a very readable way. While laying a significant amount of blame on world governments (and the U.S. in detail), she presents the facts in a pretty balanced way that allows you to see what the challenges are for people working within the large, layer-heavy, bureaucracy of government. Does it present the U.S. as this horrible country that never helps anyone? I don't think so, but you could certainly read it that way. I found it particularly interesting to read while we're witnessing what some will argue, is genocide in Myanmar. Those who don't learn from history...
siria's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating, passionate, and damning in equal measure, A Problem from Hell is an indictment against the prevailing attitudes in the USA (and much of the west) towards genocide throughout the twentieth century. From the Turkish massacres of the Armenians, through to the Serbian butchery in Kosovo, Power examines the ways in which American politicians have paid lip-service to opposing genocide, while failing to act for reasons of political expediency. As Power writes: "No US President has ever made genocide prevention a priority, and no US President has ever suffered politically for his indifference to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on." She makes a very compelling moral argument as to why military intervention is sometimes necessary to ensure that lives are saved, and why the US should use its pre-eminent global position to bring about that intervention. I did, however, wonder why Power chose to focus on examples of genocide which placed Washington as a rather remote outsider, a quasi-isolationist, removed from complicity in the causes of genocide—East Timor and Guatemala are two sad examples—why not also look at the suffering American militarism and complicity have caused?
fourtriplezed's review against another edition
4.0
A very very good book indeed and as much as I disagree with interventionism personally I cannot fault Powers well reasoned points of view.
23149014345613's review against another edition
5.0
I found something even harder to read about than the Holocaust - it's the fruitless struggles of Holocaust refugees to get Allied forces to intervene during the Holocaust! An informative book about a topic I am curious and passionate about that is also heavier than lead. I took frequent breaks to breathe deeply, watch comedies, sit in the sun and play with dogs because self-care is key with this one, folks.
For the book's length, I was disappointed in some of the details we didn't get, such as atrocities where the US was not only not part of the solution but on the side of the perpetrators (or was the perpetrator itself - some mention is made of US treatment of American Indians and Black people, mostly as rationale for US politicians opposed to defining and prosecuting genocide, but I would have liked more in-depth coverage). Power does not plainly spell out what the US plan for intervention should look like in the future, something that other reviewers have faulted her for, but by the text of the book you can see this is an impossible ask. Power attempts to unite these tragedies by showing how war and similar initial conditions can lead to genocide, but each conflict is so unique and distinctive, she points out often the dangers of fighting "the last war" and relying on hindsight. Certainly the US should be doing more to publicly denounce and sanction some of these regimes. There are warning signs and there are actions we can take, especially if we begin to prioritize human life over our own fickle geopolitical agendas. But military intervention, as we see, is another hydra entirely.
Ultimately, I came away with a nuanced view of America's involvement and detachment. We made mistakes, and we will doubtless make more, especially without the outrage and pressure of common people forcing political actors to intervene. How can we surpass our predecessors and be better stewards of the power of the promise of America? That's something I think each reader needs to answer for themselves, as no one can lay out in a few hundred pages how to solve a problem like this.
For the book's length, I was disappointed in some of the details we didn't get, such as atrocities where the US was not only not part of the solution but on the side of the perpetrators (or was the perpetrator itself - some mention is made of US treatment of American Indians and Black people, mostly as rationale for US politicians opposed to defining and prosecuting genocide, but I would have liked more in-depth coverage). Power does not plainly spell out what the US plan for intervention should look like in the future, something that other reviewers have faulted her for, but by the text of the book you can see this is an impossible ask. Power attempts to unite these tragedies by showing how war and similar initial conditions can lead to genocide, but each conflict is so unique and distinctive, she points out often the dangers of fighting "the last war" and relying on hindsight. Certainly the US should be doing more to publicly denounce and sanction some of these regimes. There are warning signs and there are actions we can take, especially if we begin to prioritize human life over our own fickle geopolitical agendas. But military intervention, as we see, is another hydra entirely.
Ultimately, I came away with a nuanced view of America's involvement and detachment. We made mistakes, and we will doubtless make more, especially without the outrage and pressure of common people forcing political actors to intervene. How can we surpass our predecessors and be better stewards of the power of the promise of America? That's something I think each reader needs to answer for themselves, as no one can lay out in a few hundred pages how to solve a problem like this.
judahgruen's review against another edition
5.0
Ambassador Power's book captures the brutality of 20th century genocide with a heartbreaking recognition of the inaction, flaws, and limited victories in American policies. Her arguments are clear and by the end of the book, I felt one not only with Samantha Power's outrage at our silence, but also with her convincing plan to change how we act in the face of genocide.
This may be the most important book of my adult life.
This may be the most important book of my adult life.