What is “The Problem From Hell”

FYSE 22 Genocide 7 September 2010 What is “the problem from hell”? The Problem from Hell derived its title from a quote by U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher on CBS’s Face the Nation: “The hatred between […] the Bosnians and the Serbs and the Croatians is almost unbelievable […] terrifying, and centuries old. That is really a problem from hell.”1 In that specific context, Warren Christopher’s problem from hell was the origins and execution of the horrid crimes in Sarajevo, but author Samantha Power identified this phrase with the mindset that considers genocides inevitable evils and American responses to genocides “futile, perverse, and dangerous.” She suggests that Bill Clinton also considered the Bosnian genocide “his own problem from hell” – evil but inevitable problem that may “burn itself out, disappear from the front pages, and leave [Bill Clinton’s] presidency alone. Thus, the problem from hell was both a term for genocidal hatreds and the American attitude that prevented effective responses to the carnage and sometimes may have encouraged the perpetrators. In this sense, the problems of genocides were not from hell. The problems of genocide, as Samantha Power and Adam Jones pointed out, were from the hatred of perpetrators and from the own “indifference and ignorance”2 of responsible parties – signatories of the 1948 Convention on Genocide and the international community. There were many other problems from hell: In all eras and places in history, there are many examples of the systematic annihilations of tribes, nations, ethnicities, and civilizations3 – Only by the 20th century do those genocides encounter international attempts to expose and stop them, none of which was efficient enough to preempt or stop4 the carnages. Only by the 20th century – after the graphic and horrid destruction wrought by the Holocaust and the tremendous efforts of Raphael Lemkin – does “the problem from hell” have a name: “Genocide.” Raphael Lemkin did more than offering a name to those problems from hell. He fought tirelessly to lessen “the problem from hell” mindset that Samantha Power described. By drafting and lobbying for the 1949 UN Convention on Genocide, Raphael Lemkin took the first step in fighting genocides – drafting and putting into effect an international law that trumps state sovereignty in case of mass murder, that justify the actions of ambassador Henry Warren Christopher on Face the Nation, CBS March 28, 1993. Reference in Samantha Power’s A Problem from Hell 2 I borrow this quote from chapter 5 “A most level pair of foes.” Samantha Power, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, p.84 3 The title “American and the Age of Genocide” may imply that the 20 th century has somehow become “the age of genocide.” Nevertheless, previous genocidal acts in history were surprisingly frequent: the elimination of the Aztec and Inca civilization, Native American forced assimilation “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” or relocation to reservations, the Inquisition, the sack of Carthage, the destruction wrought by the Mongolians throughout the 13 th century, and many more examples in The Problem from Hell and Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. 4 As Samantha Power pointed out, there were many early caveats to many genocides in A Problem from Hell. Similarly, many international organizations sounded Darfur warnings since 2003. 1 Morgenthau Sr. in the face of Armenian extinction. No longer should principles of noninterference in internal affair justifiably prevent the international community from taking note of and responding to such problems from hell.