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A review by brittneysthings
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power
5.0
Power's saving grace in penning such a long book on such a grim topic is her quality of writing. She is a masterful storyteller. The book is not without its flaws, but it is very emotionally moving. I had to read in small sections because it left me emotionally exhausted and at times in tears. The detail is extraordinary, although it becomes bit wearying throughout the sections on former Yugoslavia. Separate chapters on Bosnia, Kosovo, and Srebrenica was a bit much for me.
Some complain that she is naive in her confidence in military intervention, but I don't think that's the point of the book. She is indeed a very liberal personality, but I think her point is to generate awareness about modern genocide and critique the views that "it's not our problem" and "there's nothing we can do". She places citizenship of humanity on a higher priority than state citizenship, which is something political conservatives generally hold great issue with. She strikes on a heated topics in international relations, such as the limits of sovereignty the disparity between state "interests" and human suffering. She is very clear about where she stands in the debate, which I feel is a strength and NOT a weakness in the book. She's not trying to address genocide from an unbiased angle. She wants to inspire change in the way we approach it.
Some complain that she is naive in her confidence in military intervention, but I don't think that's the point of the book. She is indeed a very liberal personality, but I think her point is to generate awareness about modern genocide and critique the views that "it's not our problem" and "there's nothing we can do". She places citizenship of humanity on a higher priority than state citizenship, which is something political conservatives generally hold great issue with. She strikes on a heated topics in international relations, such as the limits of sovereignty the disparity between state "interests" and human suffering. She is very clear about where she stands in the debate, which I feel is a strength and NOT a weakness in the book. She's not trying to address genocide from an unbiased angle. She wants to inspire change in the way we approach it.