Rating: 
Summary: An overblown magazine article.
Review: Samantha Power takes an awful long time to sound a single note: American policy makers repeatedly fail the world because they have the power to intervene and prevent genocide in the dark regions of the globe but choose not to. Her plaint is not unlike listen to someone say, ad nauseum, "Somebody ought to DO something..." She only lightly attends to the issue of the limits of intervention, and to the ultimate causes of such events. In my mind, the greatest flaw in this book is that, to follow her thesis to its logical conclusion, America is morally culpable because it did not storm the Fulda Gap into Soviet Russia during the Cold War to end the Bolsheviks repression of their peoples. I have heard many people today saying that we should "go into Africa with guns blazing" to end the reign of the various kleptocrats of Caliban's kingdoms. Where does it end? Imperial overreach and collapse? Who shall fight the battles that Powers wishes us to fight? Shall we draft all men between 16 and 39 so that Ms. Powers can feel content that no ethnic minority on some Southeast Asian archipelago is getting the shaft? Ms. Powers reminds me of the multitude who self-righteously affix "Free Tibet" stickers to their bumpers, but never stop to consider that said Liberation would probably require trading Taipei and San Diego for Shanghai and Beijing in a thermonuclear exchange.
Rating: 
Summary: Objective, morally compelling
Review: I was drawn to this book after seeing Ms. Power on Bill Moyer's show and later, after the war ended, on CNN. She is stunningly articulate and intelligent, and frankly, CNN had no idea what to do with her except let her talk, even over the half hour break. It was breathtaking to see her lay out the moral complexity of a true liberal view of our liberation/invasion of Iraq. This is the view she brings to this powerful book, and it's one that thoroughly undermines the misguided critique accusing her of being anti-American. What she's really doing is calling on America to be America, for our political and diplomatic leaders to provide moral and, yes, military leadership when and where it's most needed. She does this through a very well-researched history of 20th century episodes of genocide that focuses on the continually repeated yet inadequate patterns of diplomatic and political response. She examines the specific public and private dialogues between politicians with the power to act and the diplomats, non-government organizations, and journalists who can pressure politicians to act. It's a critique of our system's "successful failure" to respond to genocide as revealed through the individuals that have made up the system. Ultimately, she answers the questions of why and how America has resisted responding to organized mass murder in the way that our cherished national and humanistic ideals suggest that we should. What readers of all viewpoints should find refreshing is that Power lets the facts indict whom they will. Though clearly an impassioned liberal, Power wisely avoids high rhetoric by staying centered on why concensus views of non-involvement held sway and pointing to specific examples that undercut the concensus by showing how even the hint of US involvement often saved lives. And she is indifferent to political party, offering an especially ringing indictment of the Clinton Administration, particularly Warren Christopher. It would be interesting to hear Power's thoughts on the Palestinians and other contested episodes of genocide, but I find it totally disingenuous and silly for someone to argue that she skirted this issue to avoid offending American readers. Her book explains why America has failed to act decisively when faced with obvious, overwhelming evidence of genocide. Given this history, is it any wonder that we've botched more complex disputes? Bottom line, this is book that can transform your understanding of American foreign policy. Power is an important public intellectual who skillfully combines a historian's flair for primary research with a reporter's on-the-ground sense of how real people act under fire. And her writing is pristine. I cannot think of a book more deserving of the Pulitzer.
Rating: 
Summary: Palestine?
Review: Power's book has many qualities. It is well researched, well written, provocative and thoughtful. She discovers that U.S. officials use similar administrative and rhetorical devices when faced with genocide. There appears a remarkably consistent reaction to the referenced events regardless of the political ideology of administration, ethnicity/religion of the victimized party, or any other factor other than perceived political risk. It is not hard to see with hindsight that the political-risk calculations seem barbaric and cowardly soon after the killing stops. The author aptly demonstrates with some humanity that the U.S. acquiesces these acts irrespective of who is being slaughtered. It has mattered not if they be Jewish, Muslim, Asian or African. The moral subtext of this book seems to be that all life is valuable and that genocidal violence is of such an extreme nature that it needs to be stopped. This is a book of both lofty and practical idealism that does a great job of shaming the cowards and praising the worthy. Why then does she not mention Palestine, a situation that meets the legal criteria? It appears that she wanted her book to do well in the U.S. and could not risk offending a group of people who support human rights all over the world and violent imperial oppression in Israel. Good book despite its omissions.
Rating: 
Summary: Read Kuperman instead
Review: Samantha Power's book should be greatly appreciated for bringing more wide spread attention to genocides throughout the world and demanding that the U.S. government should be more concerned about preventing such occurrences. Power should also be commended for her passion and idealism on the subject. Unfortunately, though, Power tends to distort the facts to fit in with her pre-conceived conclusions. For another more realistic perspective on genocides and the complexities involved in preventing them, I would recommend instead Alan J. Kuperman's book "The Limits of Humanitarian Intervention" -- which gives a more well-thought out and detailed analysis of the genocide in Rwanda and possible actions the United States could have taken.
Rating:
Summary: biased book
Review: Samantha Power uses a very attractive topic and without any hesitation makes quite biased conclusions. The title itself makes "sexappeal" and nowadays so many scholars and "scholars" exploit the topic of genocide. First of all, I have problem with some events which she considers to be genocide. There is international law and the international convention on genocide of 1951. Earlier historical events, except Holocaust, should be considered carefully before we can assert that they constitute the crime of genocide. There are so many biases and politically motivated allegations. If Samantha Fox considers events during the First World War, why should we not look at earlier events in 19th or 18th centuries. Where is the border line? She has no answer for that legal problem. She quite selectively picked up the tragic events - the Armenian-Turkish clashes of 1915, Rwanda, etc., putting others aside. I happened to listen once Samantha Power and heard how she made remarks about Turks: "They are everywhere" - (self-explanatory). The responsibility of a scholar, while he/she is working on such an important topic like the crime of genocide is to be impartial, precise and accurate as much as possible.
Rating:
Summary: Politics from a pulpit, not from a practical point
Review: Ms. Power and her books remind me of Charlton Heston and the NRA or Susan Sarandon and the Screen Actors Guild... Power knows she has a captive audience of people like herself and she capitalizes on their political slants with her incredible writing gift. Unfortunately, she does nothing to convince people who might vote democrat one election and republican the next... While Power criticizes the past two American presidents (W. and Big Bill), perhaps she should take a page from their political manifesto and try to understand people who live outside her pristine world. I realize she has visited war-zones... but that doesn't mean she has visted Omaha, Peoria, or Dallas... those areas contain the very voters she chastizes. Instead, Power shakes her finger on a soap box at the U.S. like the nuns which she grew up with in Ireland. By catering to like-minds, she has gone after the one thing she criticizes the most: [money]
Rating: 
Summary: Red Diaper Doper Baby
Review: Here is another example of a snotty-nosed, anti-American writer getting her two licks in against her own country. Ms. Power fails to note that in 3 of the 6 "genocidal conflicts" noted, we DID in fact get involved, even if only after waiting a bit to see what the U.N. would do. We helped stop Hitler, got involved with stopping the slaughter in Bosnia, and are now knee-deep... over in Iraq. What ever happened to other nations taking responsibility too? Why is it always "America's sin" when we try to let others settle a problem, or "America forcing her selfish self-interests" when we DO get involved? Ms. Power is a spoiled Ivy-leaguer who has never, and will never, stand up and fight for her country. Plenty of critics live here in America, making their living off disrespecting their country, but I don't see any of them spilling their blood for this great country. No, those would be the nameless soldiers who are dying now for a people in Iraq that Ms. Power claims we've turned our backs on. This country isn't perfect by any means, but let her go live in a country that's better than ours. And spare us her [whining].
Rating:
Summary: Why History Repeats Itself
Review: During and after World War II, it slowly dawned on the world that the terrible tragedy of the Holocaust must never be allowed to happen again. With many books, films, speeches, memorials, etc., educating the public about the horrors of genocide, surely the international community would stand up and confront genocide in the future. Right? Well, guess what? Genocide has happened many times after the Holocaust and America, the United Nations, and other countries did nothing to prevent it. How did the world(and especially America) allow this to happen? What is Genocide exactly? What political issues erect roadblocks to something so morally indefensible? This book answers all these questions in a very engaging and informative way. Samantha Powers has done an excellant job researching the origins of Genocide in the twentieth century; how it came to be ratified by the United Nations, and why America was one of the last countries to enact legislation to support it. Also, she reviews the ineffectiveness of the United Nations in preventing Genocide in Iraq, Rwanda, Kosovo, etc. This book is not a dry, academic study. It is very enaging and well organized. My hope is that we will not stand by silently anymore while brutal dictators like Saddam Hussein commit Genocide. Somewhere there is another Anne Frank waiting...hoping...praying silently that someone will help protect her basic right to life.
Rating:
Summary: Self Righteous...
Review: Smug and sanctimonious. The way this book is put together...it's like it's more about the author trying to create a perception of herself than it is about the people and events she's describing. I was trying to get caught up in the analysis and arguments, but the author kept getting in my way, like a little kid who's waving his hands saying, "look how smart I am!" Kind of pathetic...
Rating:
Summary: Could not put it down
Review: The book, over 500 pages, gives me a moment to pause regarding the current Iraq situation. Ms. Powers paints a damming picture of US foreign policy and policy makers as unable to deal with genocide AS IT OCCURS, for a number of reasons. It is only AFTER THE FACT, as news cameras spotlight the horrors and millions are dead, tortured or raped, does the US attempt to do the right thing. It is amazing to read, but not surprising, that Bush 1 stood by as Saddam gassed and deported 100,000's of Kurds in Northern Iraq; refusing to use any diplomatic or economic levers to try and change his abhorent behavior. In fact, as we chided Saddam for gassing 5,000 Kurds we were giving him over $500 million in credits and loans to buy US grain and other products. Our "interests" in opposing Iran, at all costs, allowed us to turn a blind eye to what was happening in Iraq because we disliked Iran more than Iraq. It is now ironic that Bush 2 is attempting to use the fact that Saddam gassed his "own people" (not really, as the Kurds are a stateless people of over 20 million living in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran) as pretext for a war. Where was the US 12 years ago, WHEN the HORRORS were occuring? Ms. Powers has written a book that I will not soon forget.
| 
