A Problem from Hell: Difference between revisions

A Problem from Hell
Author	Samantha Power
Subject	Genocide, U.S. foreign policy
Genre	Nonfiction
Publisher	Basic Books
Publication date	February 20, 2002
Publication place	United States
Media type	Hardcover
Pages	640
ISBN	978-0465061501
Followed by	Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World

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"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide (2002) is a book by American Samantha Power, at that time Professor of Human Rights Practice at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, which explores the United States's understanding of, response to, and inaction on genocides in the 20th century, from the Armenian genocide to the "ethnic cleansings" of the Kosovo War. It won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize and the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2003.

Power observes that American policymakers have been consistently reluctant to condemn mass atrocities as genocide or to take responsibility for leading an international military intervention. She argues that without significant pressure from the American public, policymakers have avoided the term "genocide" altogether, which came into more widespread use after the Holocaust of World War II. Instead, they appeal to the priority of national interests or argue that a U.S. response would be futile and accelerate violence, as a justification for inaction. She thinks such justifications are usually ill-founded.^[1]

Summary

Power begins with an outline of the international response to the Armenian genocide (Chapter 1). She next describes Raphael Lemkin's efforts to lobby for American action against Nazi atrocities in Europe (Chapter 2). She expands on the difficulties encountered by individuals who tried to convince US representatives and other members of the Allied Powers to recognize the Holocaust. She says this difficulty was compounded by the Allies focus on World War II and suggests that much indifference was based in anti-Semitic attitudes (Chapter 3).

She recounts how Lemkin brought genocide to the forefront of foreign policy issues after the war, leading to the 1948 U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Lemkin had mounting disappointments and multiplying adversaries until his death in 1959. Senator William Proxmire (D-Wisconsin) and others took over fighting for preventing genocides and encouraging US leadership on this issue. Senator Proxmire and Republican President Ronald Reagan worked to gain support during his administration for the ratification of the Genocide Convention (Chapter 7). In the rest of the book, she focuses on genocides in individual nations and the U.S. response to such crises in Algeria, Cambodia, Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Kosovo.

Reception

Reviews

Martin Woollacott reviewed the book, along with We Did Nothing by Linda Polman, for The Guardian. He concluded:

"We have yet to work out properly how the post-twin towers interventions relate to those that went before. But there is obvious irony in the fact that while previously, as these books illustrate so clearly, determination was often lacking to deal with crises that most people agreed were serious, there was no shortage of it when the Bush administration moved to deal with a crisis on which there was no global consensus at all."^[2]

Stephen Holmes reviewed the book, along with War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton and the Generals by David Halberstam, for the 'London Review of Books. Holmes wrote:

"Putting an end to atrocities is a moral victory. But if the intervening force is incapable of keeping domestic support back home for the next phase, for reconstructing what it has shattered, the morality of its intervention is ephemeral at best. If political stability could be achieved by toppling a rotten dictator or if nations could be built at gunpoint, this problem would not be so pressing. Human rights cannot be reliably protected unless a locally sustained political authority is in place."^[3]

Charles V. Peña, then affiliated with the Cato Institute, reviewed the book for Reason, concluding:

"That is exactly the point of Power’s compelling narrative: The horror and tragedy of genocide is a moral issue that transcends national interest. But to prevent another Rwanda, the United States must also have the wisdom to avoid another Somalia."^[4]

Laura Secor reviewed the book for The New York Times.^[5] The book was also reviewed in Publishers Weekly.^[6]

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Book Award
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction
Raphael Lemkin Award (Institute for the Study of Genocide)

References

^ Power, Samantha. A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. pp. xvii-xviii. Basic Books, 2002. ISBN 0-465-06150-8
^ Woollacott, Martin (July 4, 2003). "Too little, too late. From Rwanda to the Balkans, the 90s was the decade of botched interventions. Martin Woollacott on two studies of the west's failure to confront genocide from Samantha Power and Linda Polman". Retrieved June 11, 2014.
^ Holmes, Stephen (November 14, 2002). "Looking Away". London Review of Books. 24 (22). Retrieved June 11, 2014.
^ Peña, Charles V. (November 6, 2002). "Murder Most Foul: To stop genocide, the U.S. must learn to intervene more carefully". Cato Institute (originally published in Reason. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
^ Secor, Laura (April 14, 2002). "Turning a Blind Eye". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
^ ""A PROBLEM FROM HELL": America and the Age of Genocide". Publishers Weekly. February 25, 2002. Retrieved June 11, 2014.

External links

[book-1] Power, Samantha. A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. pp. xvii-xviii. Basic Books, 2002. ISBN 0-465-06150-8

[2] Woollacott, Martin (July 4, 2003). "Too little, too late. From Rwanda to the Balkans, the 90s was the decade of botched interventions. Martin Woollacott on two studies of the west's failure to confront genocide from Samantha Power and Linda Polman". Retrieved June 11, 2014.

[3] Holmes, Stephen (November 14, 2002). "Looking Away". London Review of Books. 24 (22). Retrieved June 11, 2014.

[4] Peña, Charles V. (November 6, 2002). "Murder Most Foul: To stop genocide, the U.S. must learn to intervene more carefully". Cato Institute (originally published in Reason. Retrieved June 11, 2014.

[5] Secor, Laura (April 14, 2002). "Turning a Blind Eye". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2014.

[6] ""A PROBLEM FROM HELL": America and the Age of Genocide". Publishers Weekly. February 25, 2002. Retrieved June 11, 2014.

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+{{short description|Book by Samantha Power}}
-'''''"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide''''' (Basic Books, 2003, ISBN 0060541644) is a book by [[Samantha Power]], Professor of Human Rights Practice at Harvard's [[John F. Kennedy School of Government]], which explores America's understanding of, response to, and inaction on genocides in the 20th century from the [[Armenian genocide]] to the "ethnic cleansings" of the [[Kosovo War]].  It won the [[Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction]] in 2003.
+{{Infobox book
+| name = A Problem from Hell
+| image = A Problem from Hell (book cover).jpg
+| author = [[Samantha Power]]
+| country = United States
+| subject = [[Genocide]], [[U.S. foreign policy]]
+| genre = Nonfiction
+| publisher = [[Basic Books]]
+| pub_date = February 20, 2002
+| media_type = Hardcover
+| pages = 640
+| isbn = 978-0465061501
+| followed_by = Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World
+}}
+'''''"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide''''' (2002) is a book by American [[Samantha Power]], at that time Professor of Human Rights Practice at Harvard's [[John F. Kennedy School of Government]], which explores the United States's understanding of, response to, and inaction on [[genocide]]s in the 20th century, from the [[Armenian genocide]] to the "[[ethnic cleansing]]s" of the [[Kosovo War]]. It won the [[J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize]] and the [[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction]] in 2003.
-A Problem from Hell argues that American citizens, journalists, and policymakers traditionally refuse to imagine that genocides can take place, and once atrocities begin, expect that ordinary citizens will avoid persecution.  Power argues that Americans would rather negotiate, use traditional diplomacy, urge ceasefires, and donate humanitarian aid than condemn, advocate, or use military action.  The book details how American policymakers fail to take the lead on these conflicts, especially since not enough pressure from the public creates risks for inaction.  When genocide occurs, policymakers tend to avoid the word "genocide" and argue that national interests trump interest in foreign conflicts, that U.S. response is futile, or that U.S response would amplify atrocities. (xvii-xviii)
-== Summary ==
-''Page numbers refer to the paperback edition published by Harper Perrenial''
-====Chapter 1: "Race Murder"====
-This chapter outlines the [[Armenian Genocide]] and international indifference.
-====Chapter 2: "A Crime Without a Name"====
-Chapter 2 describes [[Raphael Lemkin]]'s efforts to lobby for American action against [[Nazi]] atrocities in Europe.
-====Chapter 3: The Crime ''with'' a Name====
-Power describes further the difficulties of individuals' efforts to convince Americans and other members of the [[Allied Powers]] to recognize the [[Holocaust]], compounded by the focus on [[World War II]] and anti-Semitic indifference.  Lemkin coins the word "[[genocide]]."
-====Chapter 4: Lemkin's Law====
-Power describes how Lemkin brought genocide to the forefront of foreign policy issues, leading to the 1948 U.N. [[Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide]].
-====Chapter 5: "A Most Lethal Pair of Foes"====
-This chapter focuses on Lemkin's mounting disappointments and multiplying adversaries until his death in 1959.  Senator [[William Proxmire]] and others picked up the torch.
-====Chapter 6: Cambodia: "Helpless Giant"====
-The U.S.'s inaction in response to the [[Khmer Rouge]]'s genocide in [[Cambodia]].
+Power observes that American policymakers have been consistently reluctant to condemn mass atrocities as genocide or to take responsibility for leading an international military intervention. She argues that without significant pressure from the American public, policymakers have avoided the term "genocide" altogether, which came into more widespread use after the [[Holocaust]] of [[World War II]]. Instead, they appeal to the priority of national interests or argue that a U.S. response would be futile and accelerate violence, as a justification for inaction. She thinks such justifications are usually ill-founded.<ref name="book">Power, Samantha. ''A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide''. pp. xvii-xviii. Basic Books, 2002. {{ISBN|0-465-06150-8}}</ref>
-'''Warning:''' American operations in Cambodia derived directly from stragetic interests during the [[Vietnam War]].  Operating under the widespread government assumption that both the Vietnamese and Cambodian Communists were united, U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] ordered bombings of and ground troops into [[Cambodia]] secretly beginning March 1969 in order to prevent Communist Cambodians from attacking U.S. troops in Vietnam.  Power argues that this campaign, along with U.S. support of the corrupt and repressive [[Lon Nol]] regime, swelled the ranks of the Communist opposition, the [[Khmer Rouge]] who captured the capital [[Phnom Penh]] on April 17, 1975.
+==Summary==
-As the Vietnamese war wound down and U.S. government and media interest in Cambodia dissipated, U.S news correspondents left Cambodia.  U.S. foreign service officer Kenneth Quinn and [[Washington Post]] journalist Elizabeth Becker had tried to warn U.S. policymakers about the KR before it came into power, but were dismissed.  Becker's article on the Khmer Rouge was criticized because she had not personally seen the KR territory (they denied journalist access and "vanished" those who went anyway), by the government because she argued that the KR and Vietnamese were opponents (not allies, as U.S. officials assumed), and by the left because they believed she was being fed CIA falsehoods.
+Power begins with an outline of the international response to the [[Armenian genocide]] (Chapter 1). She next  describes [[Raphael Lemkin]]'s efforts to lobby for American action against [[Nazi]] atrocities in Europe (Chapter 2). She expands on the difficulties encountered by individuals who tried to convince US representatives and other members of the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Powers]] to recognize the [[Holocaust]]. She says this difficulty was compounded by the Allies focus on [[World War II]] and suggests that much indifference was based in anti-Semitic attitudes (Chapter 3).
+She recounts how Lemkin brought genocide to the forefront of foreign policy issues after the war, leading to the 1948 U.N. [[Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide]]. Lemkin had mounting disappointments and multiplying adversaries until his death in 1959. Senator [[William Proxmire]] (D-Wisconsin) and others took over fighting for preventing genocides and encouraging US leadership on this issue.  Senator Proxmire and Republican President [[Ronald Reagan]] worked to gain support during his administration for the ratification of the [[Genocide Convention]] (Chapter 7). In the rest of the book, she focuses on genocides in individual nations and the U.S. response to such crises in Algeria, Cambodia, Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Kosovo.
-Meanwhile, Cambodians maintained wishful thinking, assuming that once victorious the Khmer Rouge would have no need for excess brutality and would be constrained by goodwill for their countrymen.
+==Reception==
-Though President Gerald Ford's administration warned of a massacre, public distrust after Watergate and Vietnam blocked further debate.
+===Reviews===
-'''Recognition:''' Many in the U.S. remained skeptical of refugee reports and intelligence reports of KR atrocities, especially since the KR's reclusiveness and secrecy forced reporters to rely upon refugee stories, "including reminders that they had only 'unconfirmed reports,' 'inconclusive accounts,' or 'very fragmentary information.'" Meanwhile, the U.S. left believed that reports of atrocities were part of media and government exaggerations. Amnesty International, unaccostumed to dealing with massive killing, wrote a cautious report on the KR filled with qualifications.  Power argues that skeptics were Communist sympathizers, people against the corrupt Lon Nol regime, and/or people naturally incapable of imagining genocide.
+Martin Woollacott reviewed the book, along with ''[[We Did Nothing]]'' by [[Linda Polman]], for ''[[The Guardian]]''. He concluded:
-'''Response:''' U.S. nonintervention predicated on the futility, perversity, and jeopardy of response prevailed.  The KR was supported by the [[Soviet Union]], [[Yugoslavia]], and [[Syria]] in blocking a [[UN Commission on Human Rights]] investigation.  In Congress, Representative [[Stephen Solarz]] and [[Clairborne Pell]] generated some interest but not action.  Meanwhile, the [[Holocaust]] became impressed into the collective American consciousness (partly by the popular TV miniseries [[Holocaust]]), leading U.S. advocates to draw parallels between Pol Pot and [[Adolf Hitler]].  Senator [[George McGovern]], a former anti-Vietnam-war critic, called for a U.S.-led international military intervention, but was criticized for seemingly changing his position on war and for assuming the operation would be easy.
+<blockquote>"We have yet to work out properly how the post-twin towers interventions relate to those that went before. But there is obvious irony in the fact that while previously, as these books illustrate so clearly, determination was often lacking to deal with crises that most people agreed were serious, there was no shortage of it when the Bush administration moved to deal with a crisis on which there was no global consensus at all."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/jul/05/highereducation.news|title = Too little, too late. From Rwanda to the Balkans, the 90s was the decade of botched interventions. Martin Woollacott on two studies of the west's failure to confront genocide from Samantha Power and Linda Polman|last = Woollacott|first = Martin|date = July 4, 2003|access-date = June 11, 2014}}</ref></blockquote>
+[[Stephen Holmes (academic)|Stephen Holmes]] reviewed the book, along with ''[[War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton and the Generals]]'' by [[David Halberstam]], for the '''[[London Review of Books]]''. Holmes wrote: <blockquote>"Putting an end to atrocities is a moral victory. But if the intervening force is incapable of keeping domestic support back home for the next phase, for reconstructing what it has shattered, the morality of its intervention is ephemeral at best. If political stability could be achieved by toppling a rotten dictator or if nations could be built at gunpoint, this problem would not be so pressing. Human rights cannot be reliably protected unless a locally sustained political authority is in place."<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v24/n22/stephen-holmes/looking-away|title = Looking Away|last = Holmes|first = Stephen|journal = London Review of Books|author-link = Stephen Holmes (academic)|date = November 14, 2002|volume = 24|issue = 22|access-date = June 11, 2014}}</ref></blockquote>
-'''Aftermath:''' The major part of the Khmer Rouge genocide ended when Vietnam, backed by the Soviets, toppled the unpopular regime in two short weeks between December 25, 1978 and January 7, 1979, though fighting continued after.  After Vietnam's defeat of the KR, the U.S. decided that maintaining amicable relations with China and preventing further U.S.S.R. and Vietnamese expansion in Asia trumped concerns over KR atrocities.  It led a UN vote to recognize the ousted KR as the rightful regime in Cambodia.  Meanwhile, while grateful for their liberation from the KR, Cambodians still yearned for independence from their occupiers.
-====Chapter 7: Speaking Loudly and Looking for a Big Stick====
-Power shows how Senator Proxmire and President [[Ronald Reagan]] worked to gain support for the ratification of the [[Genocide Convention]].
-====Chapter 8: Iraq: "Human Rights and Chemical Weapons Use Aside"====
-Chapter 8 looks at the U.S.'s response to [[Saddam Hussein]]'s crimes against the [[Kurds]].
-====Chapter 9: Bosnia: "No More than Witnesses at a Funeral"====
-Power explores America's reaction to [[Serbia]]'s "[[ethnic cleansing]]" in [[Bosnia]].
-====Chapter 10: Rwanda: "Mostly in a Listening Mode"====
-Chapter 10 focuses on why President [[Bill Clinton]] and other American policymakers responded too late to the [[Hutu]] massacre of the [[Tutsi]] tribe in [[Rwanda]].
-====Chapter 11: Srebenrica: "Getting Creamed"====
-This chapter focuses on the genocide in [[Srebenrica]] and the U.S.'s response.
-====Chapter 12: Kosovo: A Dog and a Fight====
-Power looks at the [[Kosovo]] genocide and the U.S.'s response.
-====Chapter 13: Lemkin's Courtroom Legacy====
+Charles V. Peña, then affiliated with the [[Cato Institute]], reviewed the book for ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'', concluding:
-====Conclusion====
+<blockquote>"That is exactly the point of Power’s compelling narrative: The horror and tragedy of genocide is a moral issue that transcends national interest. But to prevent another [[Rwandan genocide|Rwanda]], the United States must also have the wisdom to avoid another [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Somalia]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/murder-most-foul-stop-genocide-us-must-learn-intervene-more-carefully|title = Murder Most Foul: To stop genocide, the U.S. must learn to intervene more carefully.|last = Peña|first = Charles V.|date = November 6, 2002|access-date = June 11, 2014|publisher = [[Cato Institute]] (originally published in [[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]}}</ref></blockquote>
+[[Laura Secor]] reviewed the book for ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/14/books/turning-a-blind-eye.html|title = Turning a Blind Eye|last = Secor|first = Laura|date = April 14, 2002|access-date = June 11, 2014|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]}}</ref> <!-- And, her conclusion? -->The book was also reviewed in ''[[Publishers Weekly]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-465-06150-1|title = "A PROBLEM FROM HELL": America and the Age of Genocide|magazine = [[Publishers Weekly]]|date = February 25, 2002|access-date = June 11, 2014}}</ref><!-- And, conclusion? -->
+===Awards===
+*[[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction]]
-== Awards ==
+*[[Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights]] Book Award
-*[[Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction]]
-*[[Robert F. Kennedy]] Book Award
+*[[J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize]]
 *[[National Book Critics Circle]] Award for General Nonfiction
 *[[Raphael Lemkin]] Award ([[Institute for the Study of Genocide]])
+==References==
-'''
+{{reflist}}
-== External links ==
-'''
-*[http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/ghistory/powers.htm Reviews of "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide]
-== References ==
+==External links==
+* {{OL work}}
-*Samantha Power: "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide.  Harper Perennial, 2003.  ISBN 9780060541644
+*[https://www.c-span.org/video/?170542-1/problem-hell ''Booknotes'' interview with Power on ''A Problem From Hell'', June 16, 2002.]
+{{Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction}}
-{{nonfiction-book-stub}}'''''"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide''''' (Basic Books, 2003, ISBN 0060541644) is a book by [[Samantha Power]], Professor of Human Rights Practice at Harvard's [[John F. Kennedy School of Government]], which explores America's understanding of, response to, and inaction on genocides in the 20th century from the [[Armenian genocide]] to the "ethnic cleansings" of the [[Kosovo War]].  It won the [[Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction]] in 2003.
+{{Works about the Armenian Genocide}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Problem From Hell, A}}
-A Problem from Hell argues that American citizens, journalists, and policymakers traditionally refuse to imagine that genocides can take place, and once atrocities begin, expect that ordinary citizens will avoid persecution.  Power argues that Americans would rather negotiate, use traditional diplomacy, urge ceasefires, and donate humanitarian aid than condemn, advocate, or use military action.  The book details how American policymakers fail to take the lead on these conflicts, especially since not enough pressure from the public creates risks for inaction.  When genocide occurs, policymakers tend to avoid the word "genocide" and argue that national interests trump interest in foreign conflicts, that U.S. response is futile, or that U.S response would amplify atrocities. (xvii-xviii)
+[[Category:2002 non-fiction books]]
-== Summary ==
+[[Category:21st-century history books]]
-''Page numbers refer to the paperback edition published by Harper Perrenial''
+[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction–winning works]]
-====Chapter 1: "Race Murder"====
+[[Category:National Book Critics Circle Award–winning works]]
-This chapter outlines the [[Armenian Genocide]] and international indifference.
+[[Category:International law literature]]
-====Chapter 2: "A Crime Without a Name"====
+[[Category:History books about genocide]]
-Chapter 2 describes [[Raphael Lemkin]]'s efforts to lobby for American action against [[Nazi]] atrocities in Europe.
+[[Category:Basic Books books]]
-====Chapter 3: The Crime ''with'' a Name====
+[[Category:History books about the United States]]
-Power describes further the difficulties of individuals' efforts to convince Americans and other members of the [[Allied Powers]] to recognize the [[Holocaust]], compounded by the focus on [[World War II]] and anti-Semitic indifference.  Lemkin coins the word "[[genocide]]."
-====Chapter 4: Lemkin's Law====
-Power describes how Lemkin brought genocide to the forefront of foreign policy issues, leading to the 1948 U.N. [[Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide]].
-====Chapter 5: "A Most Lethal Pair of Foes"====
-This chapter focuses on Lemkin's mounting disappointments and multiplying adversaries until his death in 1959.  Senator [[William Proxmire]] and others picked up the torch.
-====Chapter 6: Cambodia: "Helpless Giant"====
-'''Warning:''' American operations in Cambodia derived directly from stragetic interests during the [[Vietnam War]].  Operating under the widespread government assumption that both the Vietnamese and Cambodian Communists were united, U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] ordered bombings of and ground troops into [[Cambodia]] secretly beginning March 1969 in order to prevent Communist Cambodians from attacking U.S. troops in Vietnam.  Power argues that this campaign, along with U.S. support of the corrupt and repressive [[Lon Nol]] regime, swelled the ranks of the Communist opposition, the [[Khmer Rouge]] who captured the capital, Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975.
-As the Vietnamese war wound down and U.S. government and media interest in Cambodia dissipated, U.S news correspondents left Cambodia.  U.S. foreign service officer Kenneth Quinn and Washington Post journalist Elizabeth Becker had tried to warn U.S. policymakers about the KR before it came into power, but were dismissed.  Becker's article on the Khmer Rouge was criticized because she had not personally seen the KR territory (they denied journalist access and "vanished" those who went anyway), by the government because she argued that the KR and Vietnamese were opponents (not allies, as U.S. officials assumed), and by the left because they believed she was being fed CIA falsehoods.
-Meanwhile, Cambodians maintained wishful thinking, assuming that once victorious the Khmer Rouge would have no need for excess brutality and would be constrained by goodwill for their countrymen.
-Though President Gerald Ford's administration warned of a massacre, public distrust after Watergate and Vietnam blocked further debate.
-Recognition:
-Response:
-Aftermath:
-The U.S.'s inaction in response to the [[Khmer Rouge]]'s genocide in [[Cambodia]].
-====Chapter 7: Speaking Loudly and Looking for a Big Stick====
-Power shows how Senator Proxmire and President [[Ronald Reagan]] worked to gain support for the ratification of the [[Genocide Convention]].
-====Chapter 8: Iraq: "Human Rights and Chemical Weapons Use Aside"====
-Chapter 8 looks at the U.S.'s response to [[Saddam Hussein]]'s crimes against the [[Kurds]].
-====Chapter 9: Bosnia: "No More than Witnesses at a Funeral"====
-Power explores America's reaction to [[Serbia]]'s "[[ethnic cleansing]]" in [[Bosnia]].
-====Chapter 10: Rwanda: "Mostly in a Listening Mode"====
-Chapter 10 focuses on why President [[Bill Clinton]] and other American policymakers responded too late to the [[Hutu]] massacre of the [[Tutsi]] tribe in [[Rwanda]].
-====Chapter 11: Srebenrica: "Getting Creamed"====
-This chapter focuses on the genocide in [[Srebenrica]] and the U.S.'s response.
-====Chapter 12: Kosovo: A Dog and a Fight====
-Power looks at the [[Kosovo]] genocide and the U.S.'s response.
-====Chapter 13: Lemkin's Courtroom Legacy====
-====Conclusion====
-== Awards ==
-*[[Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction]]
-*[[Robert F. Kennedy]] Book Award
-*[[National Book Critics Circle]] Award for General Nonfiction
-*[[Raphael Lemkin]] Award ([[Institute for the Study of Genocide]])
-'''
-== External links ==
-'''
-*[http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/ghistory/powers.htm Reviews of "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide]
-== References ==
-*Samantha Power: "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide.  Harper Perennial, 2003.  ISBN 9780060541644
-{{nonfiction-book-stub}}
-== Awards ==
-*[[Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction]]
-*[[Robert F. Kennedy]] Book Award
-*[[National Book Critics Circle]] Award for General Nonfiction
-*[[Raphael Lemkin]] Award ([[Institute for the Study of Genocide]])
-'''
-== External links ==
-'''
-*[http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/ghistory/powers.htm Reviews of "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide]
-== References ==
-*Samantha Power: "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide.  Harper Perennial, 2003.  ISBN 9780060541644
-{{nonfiction-book-stub}}

v t e Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
1962–1975	The Making of the President 1960 by Theodore White (1962) The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman (1963) Anti-intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter (1964) O Strange New World by Howard Mumford Jones (1965) Wandering Through Winter by Edwin Way Teale (1966) The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture by David Brion Davis (1967) Rousseau and Revolution, vol. 10 of The Story of Civilization, by Will and Ariel Durant (1968) So Human an Animal by René Dubos / The Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer (1969) Gandhi's Truth by Erik Erikson (1970) The Rising Sun by John Toland (1971) Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911–45 by Barbara W. Tuchman (1972) Fire in the Lake by Frances FitzGerald / Children of Crisis vols. 2 and 3 by Robert Coles (1973) The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker (1974) Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (1975)
1976–2000	Why Survive? by Robert N. Butler (1976) Beautiful Swimmers by William W. Warner (1977) The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan (1978) On Human Nature by E. O. Wilson (1979) Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter (1980) Fin-de-siècle Vienna by Carl Emil Schorske (1981) The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder (1982) Is There No Place on Earth for Me? by Susan Sheehan (1983) The Social Transformation of American Medicine by Paul Starr (1984) The Good War by Studs Terkel (1985) Common Ground by J. Anthony Lukas / Move Your Shadow by Joseph Lelyveld (1986) Arab and Jew by David K. Shipler (1987) The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (1988) A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan (1989) And Their Children After Them by Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson (1990) The Ants by Bert Hölldobler and E. O. Wilson (1991) The Prize by Daniel Yergin (1992) Lincoln at Gettysburg by Garry Wills (1993) Lenin's Tomb by David Remnick (1994) The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner (1995) The Haunted Land by Tina Rosenberg (1996) Ashes to Ashes by Richard Kluger (1997) Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (1998) Annals of the Former World by John McPhee (1999) Embracing Defeat by John W. Dower (2000)
2001–2025	Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan by Herbert P. Bix (2001) Carry Me Home by Diane McWhorter (2002) "A Problem from Hell" by Samantha Power (2003) Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum (2004) Ghost Wars by Steve Coll (2005) Imperial Reckoning by Caroline Elkins (2006) The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright (2007) The Years of Extermination by Saul Friedländer (2008) Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon (2009) The Dead Hand by David E. Hoffman (2010) The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (2011) The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt (2012) Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King (2013) Toms River by Dan Fagin (2014) The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert (2015) Black Flags by Joby Warrick (2016) Evicted by Matthew Desmond (2017) Locking Up Our Own by James Forman Jr. (2018) Amity and Prosperity by Eliza Griswold (2019) The End of the Myth by Greg Grandin / The Undying by Anne Boyer (2020) Wilmington's Lie by David Zucchino (2021) Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott (2022) His Name Is George Floyd by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa (2023) A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall (2024)