Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > Chile History > Item 184
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Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals
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by Gary Jonathan Bass
Sales Rank: 355556
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List Price: $28.95
$25.19
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on 8-6-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 440 pages
Published by: Princeton University Press December 26, 2001
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0691092788
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0691092782
Book Dimensions:
9 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
Weighs: 8 ounces
Product Review
Gary Jonathan Bass, of Princeton University, offers a vigorous, liberal endorsement of war-crimes trials at a time when they're coming under close scrutiny in the aftermath of Bosnia, Kosovo, and Rwanda. This book--Bass's first--takes its title from U.S. prosecutor Robert Jackson's opening statement at the Nuremberg trials, following World War II: "That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury, stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason." Nuremberg is, of course, widely regarded as a glowing success; other war-crimes tribunals fall far short of its mark. A strength of this book is Bass's willingness to deal with these realities. His defense of war-crimes trials doesn't rest on head-in-the-sky notions about international justice. He argues, simply, that they're in the interest of democratic, peace-loving nations: "It is not that these complicated and often muddled trials are too noble to question; it is that the other options could be worse."
For an advocate, Bass is refreshingly honest: "Do war crimes tribunals work? The only serious answer is: compared to what? No, war crimes trials do not work particularly well. But they have clear potential to work, and to work much better than anything else diplomats have come up with at the end of a war." Apathy and vengeance, which Bass considers the two alternatives to tribunals, are both worth avoiding, he says. The bulk of Stay the Hand of Vengeance focuses on how nations dealt with war crimes following the Napoleonic era, World War I, the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the crumbling of Yugoslavia, and several other episodes. Bass, who was a journalist before becoming an academic, writes with great clarity and knows how to combine anecdote with argument to make his point. For those interested in the international prosecution of war crimes from both historical and contemporary perspectives, this is required reading. --John J. Miller
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
One of the major accomplishments of this impressive scholarly work is to deflate the myth that attempts to stage war crime trials began at the end of WWII. As Bass, a former reporter who now teaches politics and international affairs at Princeton, explains, the Nuremberg trials represent just part of a debate about the legality and effectiveness of endeavors to hold such tribunals, which began at the end of WWI and continues today. Bass judiciously takes a journey through the efforts to hold such trialsAfrom Britain's attempt to try Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1919 to NATO's attempts to try those responsible for atrocities in the Balkans. Despite Bass's obvious support for the trials and what he calls "legalism"Aliberal nations extending domestic laws to the international sphereAhe admits that the Nuremberg trials were the only successful venture to try in a court of law those accused of wartime atrocities. And even he says that what took place at Nuremberg, while "extraordinary," was not perfect, just "far better than anything else that has been done at the end of a major war." Even there, he allows, Britain and the United States were motivated more by a desire for retribution for what was done to their soldiers during the war than by a desire for justice regarding the Holocaust and other atrocities against civilians. The same "selfishness," Bass contends, continues to condemn more recent attempts to bring wartime scofflaws to justice. Balanced and thorough, this book ends on a note of mixed optimism with regard to the future of war crimes tribunals. Do they work? Bass asks. "The only serious answer," he continues, "is: compared to what?"
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals (Hardcover)
This book is thoroughly researched and footnoted and very well written. It culminates in a balanced account of the development of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and exposes the role of Western nations in supporting- and in some cases, obstructing the tribunal's work. Bass' thesis is that Western nations value human rights and the rule of law,- but not more than the lives of their own soldiers - thus accounting for the sporadic Western support for War Crimes tribunals. This is provocative book which has many insights into the complexities of international organizations, human rights, and diplomacy.
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Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals
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