lightreads

I picked up this book based on your review, and yes, you're absolutely right about it. I am glad I read it, but there are so many things that I now have questions about -- for instance, in the Rwanda section, she lists all the early warning signs, but doesn't put those in any kind of context. Do warnings like that always indicate imminent genocide, or are there situations that have sparked such warnings that didn't result in mass death? If so, what steps were taken there that were not taken elsewhere?

I'm also a little dubious on Powers' view of America as people that can and should act to respond to threats to humanity -- possibly I'm biased by coming into politics in 2008 or so, but: we let Americans die all the time for preventable reasons. (Health care comes to mind.) It's certainly not genocide, but: when people don't do anything when people they see & encounter on a regular basis are dying, why is she at all optimistic that Americans will save strangers' lives?

But I am very glad I read it -- as someone brought up in the 90s (better yet, in a Republican household), I knew next to nothing about the Khmer Rouge. I didn't even know much about Bosnia -- save that it was a war -- until I spent some time on Wikipedia a couple years ago.