APP'S BOOKS OF THE WEEK of May 24, 2026

 📚Books of the Week📖

China's War on Faith

By Ambassador Sam Brownback (R-KS), Chairman, National Committee for Religious Freedom

PURCHASE BOOK (5/12/2026)

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spends billions of dollars annually to either control or exterminate people of all faiths. It is a strategic imperative for them. Christians, Buddhist, Muslims, Falun Gong, and more are seen as a threat to the control of China and the world by the CCP. 

The Modern Japanese Garden

By Stephen Mansfield, Author and 

Freelance Photo-Journalist based in Japan

PURCHASE BOOK (10/7/2025)

Japan has an immense diversity of garden designs, from animist-infused, prototypical stone arrangements placed in sacred groves, to extraordinary post-war innovations. Mansfield examines post-war shifts in attitudes towards the contemporary garden as they moved from status symbols and expressions of influence to spaces of healing, mediation, and connection to nature. The book contains brief essays from notable specialists in the fields of landscape design, garden aesthetics, and architecture, including Shyunmo Masuno, Japan’s leading garden designer.

Realizing Saudi Vision 2030: Governance, 

Institutions and Human Capital Development

By the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (ABOUT)

PURCHASE BOOK (2/19/2026)

A behind-the-scenes investigation into the current transformations taking place in Saudi Arabia. It comprises contributions from academics, researchers, policymakers and practitioners who have access to the decision-makers and relevant institutions in the country. Chapters focus on the remodeling of government entities, the creation of institutions, and the new opportunities made available for Saudis through human capital development initiatives, all key issues that are central to the Vision. 

*Books purchased through the links here support Asia Policy Point*

Books selected on the APP website are not a sign of endorsement. 

They are simply new and interesting.

APP'S BOOKS OF THE WEEK of April 27, 2026

📚Books of the Week📖

The Broken China Dream: 

How Reform Revived Totalitarianism

By Minxin Pei, Professor of Government, 

Claremont McKenna College

PURCHASE BOOK 12/2/2025

When China embarked on its transformative journey of modernization in 1979, many believed the country’s turn toward capitalism would put its totalitarian past to rest and mark the birth of a democratic, open society. Instead, China reverted to a neo-totalitarian state, one backed by one of the fastest-growing, most formidable economies on earth. Pei explains why the reforms of the post-Mao era have been reversed on nearly every front.

Goliath's Curse: The History and Future 

of Societal Collapse

By Luke Kemp, Research Associate, Centre for the 

Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge

PURCHASE BOOK 9/23/2025

Kemp traces the emergence of “Goliaths”: large societies built on a collection of fragile hierarchies that collapse time after time across the world. Drawing on historical databases and the latest discoveries in archaeology and anthropology, he uncovers that more democratic societies tend to be more resilient. In our modern, global Goliath, a collapse is likely to be long-lasting and more dire than ever before. Collapse may be invisible until after it has occurred and has often had a more positive outcome for the general population than for the 1%.

Israel on Trial: Examining the History, 

the Evidence, and the Law

By Roy K. Altman, U.S. District Judge for 

the Southern District of Florida

PURCHASE BOOK 4/28/2026

Judge Altman applies courtroom-tested standards—burden of proof, corroboration, chain of custody— to examine claims of colonialism, apartheid, and genocide with dispassionate precision. In an era shaped by viral slogans and curated outrage, Judge Altman offers a disciplined method for discerning truth from propaganda and what it means to demand proof.

*Books purchased through the links here support Asia Policy Point*

Books selected on the APP website are not a sign of endorsement. 

They are simply new and interesting.

APRIL - Genocide Awareness Month

PURCHASE BOOK

The month of April marks the start of some of the most horrific genocides – Rwanda, Cambodia, Armenia, Anfal campaign against Kurds – and it is also the end of others, like the liberation of Auschwitz. This is why the month has been deemed Genocide Awareness Month. And the year of 2025 further marks pivotal anniversaries – the 30th anniversary of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War, the 50th anniversary of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, and the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide.

The United States has also played a pivotal role in many of these unfortunate and deadly moments in history. But with all this atrocity, the history books can only cover so much. And each country has a different history to tell depending on their role in the genocide and who or where the story comes from, be it a survivor, a government, an organization, or a bystander. Films and books can tell these stories in a variety of ways, and by rounding out our experiences, only then can we begin to understand and not repeat the mistakes of the past.

The co-founders of the Mass Atrocity Research Initiative (MARI), American University (Washington, DC) professors Jeff Bachman and Claudine Kuradusenge-McLeod, recommend the following. Although this list is not exhaustive of all the tragedies that have taken place, it serves as one small step toward educating ourselves.

Professor Bachman is author with Esther Ruiz of A Modern History of Forgotten Genocides and Mass Atrocities. This book is a great resource for anyone interested in genocides and mass atrocities that are often overlooked or forgotten in mainstream discussions. Bachman and Ruiz cover a range of tragic events that don’t always get the attention they deserve, shining a light on underreported genocides and mass killings in modern history.

Films

Bosnia: Years Eaten by Lions [Godine koje su pojeli lavovi] (Boro Kontic, 2010). This film looks at the Bosnian War and the ethnic cleansing that occurred during the 1990s. It follows the personal stories of survivors and the deep trauma caused by the violence. The film provides a poignant reflection on how nationalism and ethnic division led to genocide in the region.

Cambodia: Facing Genocide: Khieu Samphan and Pol Pot (David Aronowitsch/Staffan Lindberg, 2010). This documentary looks at the Khmer Rouge regime and the devastating genocide in Cambodia. Through interviews with survivors and experts, the film examines the ideology and political motives behind the regime’s brutal actions, which led to the deaths of millions. It’s a sobering and thought-provoking exploration of political violence.

Congo: CONGO: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death (Peter Bate, 2003). This documentary exposes the horrific exploitation and genocide of the Congolese people under King Leopold II’s rule in the Congo Free State. Through archival footage and historical analysis, the film chronicles the brutal tactics used to extract rubber and other resources, including forced labor, mutilations, and mass killings. It serves as a stark reminder of the colonial legacy and its long-lasting effects on Congo’s development.

Holocaust: 75 Years After Auschwitz’s Liberation, Watch Four Documentaries That Keep the ‘Memory of the Camps’ Alive This PBS Frontline article contains full access to four documentaries: Memory of the Camps (1985); Shtetl (1996); Never Forget to Lie (2013); The Last Survivors (2019).

Indigenous genocide: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Yves Simoneau, 2007) This film adapts Brown's book into a dramatic portrayal of the events leading up to the Wounded Knee Massacre, focusing on the US government's betrayal of Native Americans. It provides a harrowing look at the destruction of Native American cultures and the brutality of the US Army in its quest to quell resistance. The film vividly portrays the human cost of colonialism and imperialism.

Indonesia: The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012).This documentary offers a view of some of the perpetrators of murder in Indonesia in 1965 and 1966. The general lack of remorse for and detachment from the impacts of this violence on families and communities is both startling but important to see.

Iraq, Kurdistan region: Good Kurds, Bad Kurds (Kevin McKiernan, 2000). This documentary explores the long history of the Kurdish people and the genocide they’ve suffered at the hands of various Middle Eastern governments, especially Iraq under Saddam Hussein. It focuses on the 1988 Anfal campaign, where tens of thousands of Kurds were killed or displaced. It’s a great resource for understanding the complex political dynamics in the Middle East.

Rwanda: Sometimes in April (Raoul Peck, 2005). A powerful dramatization of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, focusing on the lives of ordinary people caught up in the violence. The film depicts the horrors of the genocide from multiple perspectives, illustrating both the overwhelming cruelty of the Hutu extremists and the resilience of survivors. It is an emotional and haunting portrayal of one of the most tragic events of the 20th century.

Rwanda: Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire (Peter Raymont, 2004). This documentary follows Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian peacekeeper who led the UN mission during the Rwandan genocide. It focuses on his personal journey, the moral dilemmas he faced, and the emotional scars he carries after witnessing the failure of the international community to stop the killings.

Books

Armenia: The United States and the Armenian Genocide: History, Memory, Politics by Julien Zarifian. The most comprehensive and detailed account of the domestic and international politics associated with the significant amount of time it took for the U.S. Congress and a US President to formally recognize the Armenian genocide as such.

Cambodia: The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79 by Ben Kiernan. Examines the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge by studying the violence through which they emerged and received popular support in some circles, even as they were murdering and starving millions. Kiernan also addresses the role of the U.S. war on Vietnam in their rise.

Canada: Suffer the Little Children: Genocide, Indigenous Nations and the Canadian State by Tamara Starblanket. It is just over 150 years since Canada opened its first residential boarding school (1874). Recommended for anyone interested in learning more about what the Canadian government has even referred to as “cultural genocide.

Congo: King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild. A must-read! Dives into the horrors of King Leopold II’s rule over the Congo Free State. Hochschild reveals the brutal exploitation, forced labor, and the millions of deaths caused by Leopold's greed. It’s a powerful critique of imperialism and a real eye-opener about colonial violence.

East Timor: A Not-So-Distant Horror: Mass Violence in East Timor by Joseph Nevins. Reviews and explains the politics associated with the death and suffering In East Timor and, as with the massacres in Indonesia, the role of members of the international community, including Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and especially the United States. Nevins writes that much, if not all, of the killings and other preventable deaths could have been avoided had these countries not provided Indonesia with political, diplomatic, economic, and military assistance.

Holocaust: The Liberation of the Camps: The End of the Holocaust and Its Aftermath by Dan Stone. Historian Dan Stone focuses on the survivors—their feelings of guilt, exhaustion, fear, shame for having survived, and devastating grief for lost family members; their immense medical problems; and their later demands to be released from Displaced Persons camps and resettled in countries of their own choosing. Stone also tracks the efforts of British, American, Canadian, and Russian liberators as they contended with survivors’ immediate needs, then grappled with longer-term issues that shaped the postwar world and ushered in the first chill of the Cold War years ahead.

Indigenous Genocides: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown. A heartbreaking account of the U.S. government’s treatment of Native Americans, particularly focusing on the systematic destruction of indigenous tribes in the American West. The book highlights broken treaties, massacres, and the tragic massacre at Wounded Knee. It’s an essential read for anyone wanting to understand the brutality of American colonialism.

Indonesia: The Killing Season: A History of the Indonesian Massacres, 1965-66 by Geoffrey B. Robinson. Researches one of the most underexplored cases of mass violence, including by scholars in the field of genocide studies. Robinson also details the critical role played by the United States, Britain, and other major powers in facilitating mass murder.

Namibia: The Herero Genocide: War, Emotion, and Extreme Violence in Colonial Namibia by Matthias Häussler. Explores the genocide of the Herero and Nama people by German colonial forces in Namibia in the early 1900s. He examines the extreme violence and forced labor, alongside the emotional and psychological toll of this genocide. It’s a compelling look at a lesser known, but significant, atrocity in colonial history.

Rwanda: Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing by James Waller. Explores a really important question: how do ordinary people become perpetrators of mass violence? Using case studies from events like the Holocaust and Rwanda, Waller examines the psychological and social factors that allow people to commit horrific acts. It’s a deep dive into the human psyche and the conditions that enable genocide.

Rwanda: Eyewitness to a Genocide: The U.N. and Rwanda by Michael N. Barnett. A critical look at the role the United Nations played during the Rwandan genocide. Barnett interviews survivors and UN personnel to show how the international community failed to intervene when mass slaughter was unfolding. It’s a sobering reflection on bureaucratic inertia and the limits of international peacekeeping.

United States: On Genocide: And a Summary of the Evidence and the Judgments of the International War Crimes Tribunal by Jean-Paul Sartre. On Genocide was written at the end of the 1967 International War Crimes Tribunal (also known as the Russell Tribunal after British philosopher Bertrand Russell) and was adopted by the tribunal as part of its findings. I recommend it because, even if one disagrees about use of the term genocide, On Genocide is meticulous in its summary of violence carried out by the United States. For example, Sartre writes that the intent to commit genocide is “implicit in the facts,” including “villages burned, the population subjected to massive bombing, livestock shot, vegetation destroyed by defoliants, crops ruined by toxic aerosols, and everywhere indiscriminate shooting, murder, rape and looting.”

United States: We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government Against the Negro People by William Patterson. Argues that the US government’s treatment of African Americans during the 20th century meets the definition of genocide. Written by civil rights leaders, it documents racial violence and systemic oppression as an intentional strategy to eliminate Black communities. It’s an important read to understand the broader scope of genocide in a U.S. context.

United States: Narratives of Victimhood and Perpetration: The Struggle of Bosnian and Rwandan Diaspora Communities in the United States by Claudine Kuradusenge-McLeod: Explores the experiences of Bosnian and Rwandan diaspora communities in the U.S., particularly in how they navigate their identities as both victims and perpetrators of genocide. The author delves into how these communities grapple with their pasts and the trauma of genocide while trying to integrate into American society. The book is an essential read for understanding the complexities of post-genocide identity and the lasting effects of trauma on displaced populations.

Asia Pacific WWII:  Japan's Holocaust: History of Imperial Japan's Mass Murder and Rape During World War II by Bryan Mark Rigg, Ph.D. Unreviewed.

Monday Asia Events, September 20, 2021

RESPONDING TO THE UYGHUR GENOCIDE: ASSESSING POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE OPTIONS FOR THE U.S. 9/20, 9:00am (EDT), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University. Speakers: Rushan Abbas, Executive Director, Campaign for Uyghurs; Brett Hansen, Foreign Service Officer, United States Department of State; Ewelina Ochab, Co-founder, Coalition for Genocide Response; Sophie Richardson, China Director, Human Rights Watch; Nury Turkel - Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute. 

OCEAN NATIONS: AN INDO-PACIFIC ISLANDS DIALOGUE - DAY 2. 9:30am-5:45pm (EDT) New York, NY and Virtual. Sponsor: Carnegie and Sasakawa Peace Foundation. Speakers Include: Jayanath Colombage, Foreign Secretary, Sri Lanka; Atsushi Watanabe, Senior Research Fellow Ocean Policy Institute, Sasakawa Peace Foundation; Teburoro Tito, Permanent Representative, Republic of Kiribati; Hiroyuki Suzuki, Chief Representative of the Washington Office, Japan Bank for International Cooperation; Inia Seruiratu, Minister of Defense and National Security, Fiji; Randall G. Schriver, Chairman of the Board, Project 2049 Institute. Location: Japan Society, 333 E 47th St. 

INVESTIGATING COVID-19 AND THE CHINA COVERUP. 9/20, 9:45-10:45am (EDT), Online. Sponsor: Hudson. Speakers: Kevin Brock, Senior Fellow, Center For Financial Stability; Diane Cutler, Detailee, House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Tom Dinanno, Adjunct Fellow, Hudson Institute; David Asher, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; John P. Walters (Moderator), President and CEO, Hudson Institute. 

THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT AND THE ROLE OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN ATROCITY PREVENTION. 10:00am-Noon (EDT), WEBINAR. Sponsors: Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect; Government of Costa Rica; Government of Croatia; Government of Denmark. Speakers: Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide; Wai Wai Nu, Burmese human rights activist, Founder, Executive Director, Women’s Peace Network; H.E. Mr. Rodolfo Solano Quirós, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Costa Rica; H.E. Mr. Gordan Grlić-Radman, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Republic of Croatia; H.E. Mr. Jeppe Kofod, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Denmark. Moderator: Savita Pawnday, Deputy Executive Director, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. Contact: Ms. Juliette Paauwe, jpaauwe@globalr2p.org.

AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS. 1:00-2:30pm (EDT), WEBINAR. Sponsors: Brookings; UN Foundation. Speakers: Cynthia Yue, UNA-USA Youth Observer, United Nations; Dr. Helene Gayle, President and CEO, Chicago Community Trust; Michael McAfee, President and CEO, PolicyLink; Carmen Villar, Vice President, Social Business Innovation, Merck. Moderator: Ana Marie Argilagos, President and CEO, Hispanics in Philanthropy. 

ELECTIONS, PROTEST, AND AUTHORITARIAN REGIME STABILITY: RUSSIA 2008–2020. 2:00-3:00pm (EDT), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Kennan Institute, Wilson Center. Speaker: Regina Smyth, Professor, Political Science, Indiana University. Moderator: William E. Pomeranz, Deputy Director, Kennan Institute. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/3z8ATQ4

UNCONTROLLED SPREAD. 5:30-6:30pm (EDT), LIVESTREAM. Sponsor: American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Speakers: author, Scott Gottlieb, Senior Fellow, AEI; Robert Doar, President, AEI. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/2XcyjeE

CHINA, THE US AND CLIMATE DIPLOMACY: A CONVERSATION WITH FORMER PRIME MINISTER KEVIN RUDD. 6:00-7:00pm (EDT), ZOOM WEBINAR. Sponsor: Center on Global Energy, Columbia SIPA. Speaker: Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Australia. 

PINK GLOBALIZATION: CHALLENGING HELLO KITTY’S TREK ACROSS THE PACIFIC. 8:00-9:00pm (EDT), WEBINAR. Sponsor: 21st Century Japan Politics & Society Initiative, Indiana U. Speaker: Christine Yano, Professor, Anthropology, University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Moderator: Prof Adam P. Liff, Associate Professor of East Asian International Relations, Founding Director of its 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (“21JPSI”), Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, Indiana University; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Associate-in-Research, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/3nvfTRm

Monday in Washington, April 4, 2016

AUSTRALIA-JAPAN-U.S. MARITIME COOPERATION: FEDERATED CAPABILITIES FOR THE ASIA PACIFIC. 4/4,10:00-11:30am. Sponsor: CSIS. Speakers: Andrew Shearer, Former National Security Advisor to the Australian Government; Robert Schear, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities, U.S. Department of Defense.

THE WEEK TO REMEMBER OUR HUMANITY: GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE AND POST-CONFLICT TRAUMA HEALING. 4/4, 11:30am-1:00pm. Sponsor: George Mason University School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution (S-CAR). Speakers: Leslie Dwyer, Associate Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Gender and Conflict, S-CAR; Douglas Irvin-Erickson, Fellow of Peacemaking Practice and Director of the Genocide Prevention Program; Claudine Kuradusenge, PhD Student, S-CAR.

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CHASING GHOSTS: THE POLICING OF TERRORISM. 4/4, Noon-1:30pm. Sponsor: Cato Institute. Speakers: Author of Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them; Author of Chasing Ghosts: The Policing of Terrorism John Mueller, Senior Research Scientist, Mershon Center for International Studies, Ohio State University; Author  of Terror, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security Mark G. Stewart, Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Newcastle, Australia; Rosa Brooks, Professor of Law, Georgetown University.

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AJAY MARKANDY, DIRECTOR OF THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION. 4/4, Noon-2:00pm. Sponsor: Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU). Speaker: Ajay Markandy, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization, fee.

THE KOREAN PENINSULA ISSUES. 4/4, 1:00-3:00pm. Sponsor: Institute for Korean-American Studies (ICAS). Speakers: Synja P. Kim, ICAS President and Chairman; Daniel Russel, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Joseph Bosco, Senior Associate, CSIS; Peter Huessy, President, GeoStrategic Analysis; Tong Kim, Washington Correspondent, The Korean Times; David Maxwell, Associate Director, Security Studies Program, Georgetown University; Larry Niksch, Senior Associate, CSIS.

BREAKING NEW GROUND: PREPARING DOD FOR THE FUTURE. 4/4, DATE CHANGE NOW TUESDAY APRIL 5. 1:00-2:00pm. Sponsor: CSIS. Speaker: Ash Carter, Secretary of Defense.

THE ROOTS OF THE SRI LANKAN WAR. 4/4, 3:30-4:45pm. Sponsor: Carnegie Endowment. Speaker: Samanth Subramanian, India Correspondent, The National.

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COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM: HOW TO CONFRONT A GLOBAL MENACE. 4/4, 4:00-6:00pm. Sponsor: SAIS, Johns Hopkins University. Speakers: Dr. Daniel Serwer, Conflict Management; Dr. Sinisa Vukovic, Conflict Management; Dr. Eliot Cohen, Strategic Studies; Katherine Zimmerman, Special Guest Scholar, American Enterprise Institute.

MISSION FAILURE: AMERICA AND THE WORLD IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA BY MICHAEL MANDELBAUM. 4/4, 5:30-7:00pm. Sponsor: SAIS, Johns Hopkins. Speaker: Author Michael Mandelbaum, Professor and Director, American Foreign Policy, SAIS.

Building state capacity to prevent atrocity crimes

Professor David Simon is interviewed at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale about building state capacity to prevent atrocity crimes. He reflects upon Rwanda now 20 years after that country's Genocide of the Tutsis and how the international community can best respond to such atrocities. Unsaid are the lessons learned from the war crimes of WWII.

The interview reflects his 2012 Policy Analysis Brief for the Stanley Foundation, Building State Capacity to Prevent Atrocity Crimes: Implementing Pillars One and Two of the R2P Framework. Simon focuses on the first and second pillars of the doctrine, namely the aspects of state and local capacity building—assisted where appropriate through international cooperation—that offer the best hope of realizing R2P principles before the prospect of adversarial intervention arises. 

Working from a simplified model of how mass-atrocity threats unfold, the brief seeks to enumerate the types of interventions best suited to derail that process. It begins with state-level capacity building, consistent with the standard formulation of the first pillar of the R2P framework. 

Because state authorities and individual elites are often complicit in mass atrocity crimes, however, a robust capacity-building effort should also reinforce the capacity of a broader cross section of stakeholders, including nonstate actors, to strengthen social and institutional resilience in the face of mass atrocity threats.

He argues that international cooperation should support such in-country efforts, while noting some of the complications that are likely to arise in doing so. He suggests that domestic efforts and international assistance should be supplemented with ongoing internal reviews, peer evaluations, and monitoring.

David Simon is a Lecturer, Political Science and Ethics, Politics & Economics; Director of Graduate Studies African Studies at Yale University. He studies African politics, focusing on the politics of development assistance and post-conflict situations, particularly in Rwanda. He is editor of the Historical Dictionary of Zambia, and has contributed to Comparative Political Studies, The Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, and The Journal of Genocide Research. He also teaches classes on international relations in Africa and the comparative politics of development.

Happy Birthday Raphael Lemkin

Today, June 24, is the 113th birthday Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959). A linguist, a lawyer, a scholar, he devoted most of his life to making the world understand and recognize a crime so horrific that there had not even been a word for it. In 1944, he gave the world the word, "genocide."

Coming of age in post-World War I Poland, Lemkin was keenly aware of virilent campaigns to wipe out the "other." As a Jewish intellectual he straddled western and eastern traditions, modern and ancient sensibilities. Most important, he experienced long-nurtured prejudices and knew that what Hitler proposed was something quite different than any pogrom the Jews had ever seen.

Lemkin recognized that modern civilized society needed to address not only the crimes committed in war, of one country against another, but also those of mass violence within the sovereign state. He identified two "new crimes"—barbarism (killing civilians of a particular ethnic group because of their membership in that group)—and vandalism (the destruction of the cultural heritage of such groups).

In exile in the United States after 1941, Lemkin carefully collected documents and reports on Nazi rule throughout the growing Third Reich. In 1944, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published Lemkin's Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. His book included an extensive legal analysis of Nazi Germany along with the definition of the term genocide. He said he had created the word by combining the ancient Greek word genos (race, tribe) and the Latin cide (killing). [see video above]

 Lemkin worked hard, and alone, to have have his view of genocide as an offense against international law--against humanity--accepted by the international community. His success was that it was one of the legal bases of the Nuremberg Trials. In 1948, the newly formed United Nations used his new word in its Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, a treaty intended to prevent future genocides. 

Yale Professor Jay Winter in a recent article (June 3, 2013) for the Chronicle of Higher Education, "Prophet Without Honors: Raphael Lemkin helped make genocide illegal. So why haven't you heard of him?", concludes: 

Reading Lemkin's autobiography helps us acknowledge both the significance and the limits of his work. Naming a crime is not the same as eliminating it. That he did not launch a new era immediately, one in which human dignity comes before state sovereignty, is hardly a criticism. The times and the odds were against him. What he offered was a possibility, one to be taken up today or tomorrow, and who can do more than that?

The world was reminded of Lemkin's determination and brillance in 2002 by journalist Samantha Powers in her seminal A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. In July, she will become the US ambassador to the UN.

This month, Lemkin's unfinished autobiography edited by Donna-Lee Frieze (Center for Jewish History in New York City), Totally Unofficial was published by Yale University Press.

Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand are not a party to the Genocide Convention. Japan is the only G8 country that is not.



Key writings of Raphael Lemkin on Genocide.

Monday in Washington

ONE MILLION BONES. 6/8-10. National Mall. Large-scale social arts practice, combining education, hands-on art making, and public installation to raise awareness of ongoing genocides and mass atrocities in places like Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Burma. 1,000,000 handcrafted bones placed on the Mall to serve as a collaborative site of conscience to honor victims and survivors and as a visual petition against ongoing conflicts and a call for action.

SCALING UP: CHINESE RENEWABLE ENERGY INVESTMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND BEYOND. 6/10, 9:00-11:00am. Sponsor: Wilson Center, China Environmental Forum. Speakers: Hu Tao, Senior Associate, International Financial Flows and Environment Project, World Resources Institute (WRI); Yingzhen Zhao, Research Assistant, International Financial Flows and Environment Project, WRI; Todd Foley, Senior Vice President, Policy and Government Relations, American Council On Renewable Energy.

IS JAPAN "BACK"?: AN ASSESSMENT OF ABENOMICS. 6/10, Noon-1:00pm. Sponsor: Japan America Society of Washington. Speaker: Matthew P. Goodman, Simon Chair in Political Economy, CSIS.

THE PRESIDENT'S STEM CALL TO ACTION - A JOINT IMPLEMENTATION RESPONSE TO PCAST'S 'ENGAGE TO EXCEL' REPORT. 6/10, 1:30pm. Sponsor: The Business-Higher Education Forum, National STEM Undergraduate Partnership. Speakers: Navy Secretary Ray Mabus; Thomas Kalil, White House Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation; Reginald Brothers, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research; Susan Singer, Director, Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation.

IRAN AT A CROSSROADS: THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND NUCLEAR PROGRAM. 6/10, 2:00pm. Sponsor: Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). Speakers: Dennis Ross, Co-chairman, JINSA Iran Task Force; Eric Edelman, Co-chairman, JINSA Iran Task Force; Ray Takeyh, Senior Fellow, Middle East Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Mortimer Zuckerman, Editor-in-chief of U.S. News and World Report, Publisher, New York Daily News; Michael Makovsky, CEO, JINSA.

EXPLORING ECONOMIC POLICY PERCEPTIONS. 6/10, 3:00-5:00pm. Sponsor: U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC), Chamber Foundation. Speakers: Bruce Stokes, Director, Global Economic Program, Pew Research Global Attitudes Project; John Lipsky, former G20 Sherpa, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF; Kalpana Kochhar, Deputy Director, Strategy and Policy Department, IMF; Nuno Mota Pinto, Alternative Director for Portugal, World Bank; Gary Litman, Vice President, International Strategic Initiatives, USCC; John Sullivan, Managing Director, Center for International Private Enterprise; Joel Rogers, Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute, United Kingdom, Academic Drector, YouGov; Aniket Shah, Investec Asset Management, South Africa.

TYRANNY OF CONSENSUS. 6/10, 5:00-6:30pm. Sponsor: Stimson Center. Speaker: Janne Nolan, Author, Senior Fellow, Association for Diplomatic Studies.

DRONES AND THE FUTURE OF COUNTERTERRORISM IN PAKISTAN. 6/10, 5:00-6:30pm. Sponsor: Carnegie Endowment (CEIP). Speakers: Samina Ahmed, Senior Asia Adviser, International Crisis Group, Islamabad, Pakistan; Frederic Grare, Director, Senior Associate, South Asia Program, CEIP.