Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: After I saw Ms. Power on NOW with Bill Moyers as a guest with Simon Schama (of The History of Britain fame) to discuss the concept of American Empire (if I recall correctly) I'd been interested in reading Ms. Power's book. Unfortunaltly, $... was a bit steep for me, and I don't like hardcovers anyway - so I decided to wait. Fortunatly, my english teacher loaned me her copy. I write the following review as an avid reader of very dry histories and legalistic treatises:
This is definatly one of the best books on this subject (and all it's related areas) I've ever read. Ms.Power's backround as a journalist shines through brilliantly in the way she links together a rather complex international story with individuals, primary to the subject or not. Reading about Lemkin's idiosyncracies not only makes the subject of his lifes work more interesting, but much easier to remember.
I'd recommend this book to anyone with even a remote interest in human rights, the history of the UN as peacekeeper and the U.S's historic (non)reactions to that most unbelievable of crimes. Highly recommened to anyone who can read it! Dustin
Rating: 
Summary: Often in error, seldom in doubt
Review: Power defines "genocide" so broadly that it includes virtually any criminal act in the world, and she argues that the U.S. has a duty to predict and intervene in any situation to which her definition applies. She wants the U.S. to become the "Big Brother" of the world. She does not supply any historical or philosophical evidence to support her fantastic thesis. Her recent appearance on Bill Moyer's weekly PBS program did not enhance her credibility. She is one of those persons who believes that she knows everything and expects others to accept her statements without question. On course, Moyers nevcer asked for her evidence. In my opinion, Power's philosophy is this: the U.S. should become Plato's Republic. Thanks, but no thanks.
Rating:
Summary: This book is truly an impressive tome
Review: Samantha Power has done a wonderful job at researching events that few of today's youth have ever heard of, but certainly should know. Extremely well written, this book offers both the specifics and the historical context of some of the century's most heinous crimes. Although I don't agree with the position that the author seems to promote throughout the book, that the United States should immediately jump into the fray when any crimes of this nature begin, I do think it's a viewpoint worth considering. There are many times in history demonstrated quite thoroughly in this book that we stood by and did nothing for too long. We can't stop all atrocities, but this book argues that we can do a lot more than we have so far. I found this a truly fascinating evaluation of several important events that put even today's international conflicts into better perspective. It's a long book, but worth every page.
Rating:
Summary: Insight from a wunderkind
Review: What strikes one most deeply about "A Problem from Hell" is that such a book has not existed before, that there has not been a comprehensive study of genocide and the United States. That absence is fitting, though, in that Power's study is very much an analysis of absence, a review of the inaction of the US government in the face of genocides around the world and through the decades. Simply, this book is an important book. All should read it, to see the depth of man's violence against man. America's diplomats and leaders should learn from its cautionary tales. America's soldiers should seek out tactics that would solve the crises Power describes.
Rating:
Summary: deals with the real questions well and thoughtfully
Review: I grew up hearing in school the world would not let horrors like Nazi behavior toward Jews happen again. Later, I saw people mouthed platitudes about "ancient hatreds" and "both sides being at fault" when it was perfectly obvious that one group was terrorizing another. This book thoughtfully discusses the questions I keep wondering about. Why is this American policy (not ignorance, she makes very clear that it was easy to be aware of the facts)? It was moving to read about some people, Americans and others, who did make persistent and heroic efforts to change policy, but disheartening to realize the weight of forces and determined obliviousness. It was interesting to realize the denialism even sometimes of people about to be victimized who didn't want to admit to themselves what was quite clearly about to happen. Ms. Powers points out that the few actions actually taken, like bombing Kosovo, even with some problems, can and do make a major positive difference. It's a really worthwhile book and I wholeheartedly recommend it. We all need to look at reality without denial and try to understand it and maybe sometime in the future there can be more real readiness to take possible actions in the face of horror.
Rating:
Summary: The Naive Historian
Review: While this book addresses serious and important issues regarding genocide and U.S. policy regarding such, it ignores a great deal of American history....
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: This is a great book that, if widely read, will inspire this country to save many lives in the future. Those of you slandering the book in the interest of denying the atrocities 100 years ago -- and thereby undermining an attempt to stop future horrors -- should be ashamed of yourselves. All of us should do what we can to see the book's lessons and wisdom proliferated.
Rating: 
Summary: An earnest history
Review: This rather earnest book covers US policy in response to some acts of genocide in the 20th century. It starts with Henry Morgenthal, Sr. and his attempt to alert the American public to the Ottoman massacre of the Armenians and continues on to US policy in Rwanda, Iraq and Kosovo. This is primarily a book for people who believe that, in general, United States foreign policy is just: it's the other countries that commit genocide. While Powers does mention that the United States has occasionally aided the perpetuators of genocide, she only delves into areas where common opinion places the US on the side of the angels. She discusses Cambodia, but doesn't say much about the US war in Vietnam; she says a lot about the Iraqi violence against the Kurds, but nothing about the (US supported) Turkish war against the Kurds. Likewise there is literally nothing about US-sponsored actions in Central and South America; Kissinger's tacit approval of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor; or US support of Israeli violence against the Palestinians. This is the kind of book that gets the author a reputation as a 'stern critic' of US policy while at the same time does nothing to prevent the same author from getting a prominent foreign policy position in the future. It's not surprising that this book has been well promoted on Book TV and public television, but for the whole truth about genocide and its causes, go elsewhere. By the way, Stephen Holmes has a good review of this book in the November 2002 "London Review of Books." He writes about the problems of focusing on genocide (what should be done if an ethnic group commits mass murder against its own members?) and Power's impatience with multilateralism and legalism.
Rating:
Summary: Genocide Awareness
Review: When the word "genocide" comes up, most people immediately think of the Holocaust. Certainly this is understandable and it is important to remember the Holocaust in the hopes that something like it will never happen again. Unfortunately, as Ms. Power reminds us, genocide happened before the Holocaust and continues to happen. Even though Powers deals strictly with the twentieth century, the slaughter of entire races and peoples is older than history. What is sad to realize for those of us who like to believe that the human race is progressing is that this slaughter continues to happen. In fact, it seems to be happening with an even colder efficiency in our modern age. Americans like to believe that we are against such things (now that Native Americans are no longer a threat) but Power points out our continual failure to act in the face of the killings of the last 100 years. Power begins her discussion with the attempt by the Turks to destroy the Armenians during World War I. Technically, this was not a "genocide" because the word had not been coined as of yet. It was, instead, a "massacre" or "atrocity" of war about which we could do nothing since we were involved in a war at the time and our resources were occupied. As Power points out, however, this superficial excuse which has been used time and again for inaction only covers deeper reasons. These reasons center around disbelief in provided information, American isolationism and the lack of political value in helping others in such a situation. The turning point, of course, was the Holocaust. The scale of the destruction was so great that Americans in particular felt guilt about our inaction when the slaughter became widely known. It was in the years of World War II that a Polish refugee and lawyer named Raphael Lemkin invented the term "genocide" and worked tirelessly until his death to get the United Nations to recognize that genocide was something against which the UN needed to act. And yet, the years since the Holocaust have seen the killing fields of Cambodia, the attempted destruction of the Kurds by Saddam Hussein, the "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia and the tribal wars of Rwanda, just to name a few. Power describes these situations in great detail and points out how, again and again, the United States has failed to act effectively, if at all, even when it was in our power to do so. Many of these events have taken place recently despite our repeated promises of "never again" after the Holocaust. Power is very effective in pointing out how US foreign policy has continually been unresponsive to genocide and I for one was very distressed to see our failures--a failure in which we as citizens must take our share of the blame. But I was glad to have my eyes opened. I hope a lot of people will read this and have their eyes opened. Power is fair in pointing out that we have made some progress against genocide (in Kosovo and the prosecution of Milosevic) but that we have a very long way to go. Hopefully, readers of this book will become more aware and be ready to push America into action when we become aware of genocide again.
Rating:
Summary: A great--and disturbing--read
Review: I feel compelled to offer a view of this book that does not come from either an Armenian or Turkish perspective. Speaking as a generic American reader, I found it highly compelling and extremely persuasive. Power is a writer of great skill who knows how to let the facts speak for themselves, and who values the power of understatement--always a welcome quality when dealing with such a difficult subject. She has exhaustively researched the material, and then shaped into a narrative that's hard to put down. In between the savagery and horror there are unexpected moments of comedy--for instance a priceless scene of Raphael Lemkin, the single-minded anti-genocide crusader, approaching a young lady at a casino. "She told him she was of Indian descent, born in Chile. Lemkin saw his opening: He informed her that his work on mass slaughter would be of particular interest to her because of the destruction of the Incas and the Aztecs. This was one pickup line the young woman had probably never heard before. She soon departed." Lemkin--a Polish Jew who barely escaped the Holocaust--is only one of the unexpected heroes who parade through the pages of "A Problem from Hell." Others include Teddy Roosevelt, who unsuccessfully urged his successor, Woodrow Wilson, to intervene to protect the Armenians from Turkish slaughter; Peter Galbraith, the former Senate aid and US ambassador to Croatia, who tried to alert the world about the Iraqi and Bosnian genocides; Gen. Romeo Dallaire, the commander of UN forces in Rwanda who was so anguished about his inability to stop the slaughter that he found solace in the bottle; and Bob Dole, who as Senate Majority Leader pushed a reluctant Bill Clinton to intervene in Bosnia. Some will no doubt bristle at Power's message--that the US has a duty to stop genocide anywhere in the world. But if we don't do it, who will? She makes a powerful point that we have often paid a price for ignoring genocide, as for instance in the case of Saddam Hussein's atrocities against the Kurds in the late 1980s. This is a book that will change a lot of people's thinking about the role of human rights in American foreign policy. I only hope it will change our policy too.
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