Gerard Toal and Carl T. Dahlman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730360
- eISBN:
- 9780199895250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730360.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the emergence of the term “ethnic cleansing” with the outbreak of the Bosnian war of 1992–5, and how ethnic cleansing is a form of geopolitics. ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the emergence of the term “ethnic cleansing” with the outbreak of the Bosnian war of 1992–5, and how ethnic cleansing is a form of geopolitics. It considers the provisions and implementation of Annex 7 of the General Framework Agreement. It then sets out the rationale for this book—the contention that both ethnic cleansing and return are unavoidably geographical processes—and identifies five important objects of analysis in the study of ethnic cleansing and returns in Bosnia. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the emergence of the term “ethnic cleansing” with the outbreak of the Bosnian war of 1992–5, and how ethnic cleansing is a form of geopolitics. It considers the provisions and implementation of Annex 7 of the General Framework Agreement. It then sets out the rationale for this book—the contention that both ethnic cleansing and return are unavoidably geographical processes—and identifies five important objects of analysis in the study of ethnic cleansing and returns in Bosnia. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
Gerard Toal and Carl T. Dahlman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730360
- eISBN:
- 9780199895250
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730360.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This book is an authoritative account of ethnic cleansing and its partial undoing in the Bosnian wars from 1990 to the present. The book combines a bird's-eye view of the entire war from onset to ...
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This book is an authoritative account of ethnic cleansing and its partial undoing in the Bosnian wars from 1990 to the present. The book combines a bird's-eye view of the entire war from onset to aftermath with a micro-level account of three towns that underwent ethnic cleansing and later the return of refugees. Through the lens of critical geopolitics, which highlights the power of both geopolitical discourse and spatial strategies, the book focuses on the two attempts to remake the ethnic structure of Bosnia since 1991. The first attempt was by ascendant ethnonationalist forces that tried to eradicate the mixed ethnic structures of Bosnia's towns, villages and communities. While these forces destroyed tens of thousands of homes and lives, they failed to destroy Bosnia-Herzegovina as a polity. The second attempt followed the war. The international community, in league with Bosnian officials, tried to undo the demographic consequences of ethnic cleansing. This latter effort has moved in fits and starts, but as the book shows, it has re-made Bosnia, producing a country that has moved beyond the stark segregationist geography created by ethnic cleansing.Less
This book is an authoritative account of ethnic cleansing and its partial undoing in the Bosnian wars from 1990 to the present. The book combines a bird's-eye view of the entire war from onset to aftermath with a micro-level account of three towns that underwent ethnic cleansing and later the return of refugees. Through the lens of critical geopolitics, which highlights the power of both geopolitical discourse and spatial strategies, the book focuses on the two attempts to remake the ethnic structure of Bosnia since 1991. The first attempt was by ascendant ethnonationalist forces that tried to eradicate the mixed ethnic structures of Bosnia's towns, villages and communities. While these forces destroyed tens of thousands of homes and lives, they failed to destroy Bosnia-Herzegovina as a polity. The second attempt followed the war. The international community, in league with Bosnian officials, tried to undo the demographic consequences of ethnic cleansing. This latter effort has moved in fits and starts, but as the book shows, it has re-made Bosnia, producing a country that has moved beyond the stark segregationist geography created by ethnic cleansing.
Nicholas Morris*
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199267217
- eISBN:
- 9780191601118
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199267219.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Assesses the success of the two humanitarian interventions in the Balkans – Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999 – from the perspective of humanitarian organizations. It argues how, ironically, the ...
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Assesses the success of the two humanitarian interventions in the Balkans – Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999 – from the perspective of humanitarian organizations. It argues how, ironically, the effectiveness of organizations such as UNHCR can dissuade powerful states from taking the necessary steps to address the root causes of massive human rights violations. Slow and ambiguous action from the international community can raise false expectations on the part of suffering civilians, and embolden those who commit atrocities. The author argues that the political, military, and humanitarian strands of interventions are always closely interwoven, and draws a series of lessons from the Balkans experience: the need for the international community to act early, credibly, and consistently; the importance of preserving the identity of a humanitarian operation; the imperative to end the impunity of those who orchestrate and commit massive violations of human rights; and the importance of engaging the United Nations.Less
Assesses the success of the two humanitarian interventions in the Balkans – Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999 – from the perspective of humanitarian organizations. It argues how, ironically, the effectiveness of organizations such as UNHCR can dissuade powerful states from taking the necessary steps to address the root causes of massive human rights violations. Slow and ambiguous action from the international community can raise false expectations on the part of suffering civilians, and embolden those who commit atrocities. The author argues that the political, military, and humanitarian strands of interventions are always closely interwoven, and draws a series of lessons from the Balkans experience: the need for the international community to act early, credibly, and consistently; the importance of preserving the identity of a humanitarian operation; the imperative to end the impunity of those who orchestrate and commit massive violations of human rights; and the importance of engaging the United Nations.
Gerard Toal and Carl T. Dahlman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730360
- eISBN:
- 9780199895250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730360.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter reflects on the legacies of the double effort to remake Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1990 and outlines a qualified answer to the question of whether ethnic cleansing succeeded or not. ...
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This chapter reflects on the legacies of the double effort to remake Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1990 and outlines a qualified answer to the question of whether ethnic cleansing succeeded or not. Perhaps the most appropriate answer to whether ethnic cleansing has succeeded in Bosnia is that it is too early to tell. If Bosnia-Herzegovina is allowed to break apart by its neighbors, the European Union, and other major powers, we can say that ethnic cleansing has succeeded. But ethnic homogeneity—a condition often overstated and superficially claimed for states that are more heterogeneous than imagined—is no formula for stability. Certainly in Bosnia-Herzegovina, any independence for Republika Srpska (with the border drawn “on ethnic lines”) is likely to result in a new war. Bosnia-Herzegovina is still in the process of being made, its form an evolving one. While there are certainly grounds for being pessimistic about its future given its current ethnoterritorial arrangement, institutional burdens, and polarized politics, there is also some recognition among most of its divided political class that they are stuck together.Less
This chapter reflects on the legacies of the double effort to remake Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1990 and outlines a qualified answer to the question of whether ethnic cleansing succeeded or not. Perhaps the most appropriate answer to whether ethnic cleansing has succeeded in Bosnia is that it is too early to tell. If Bosnia-Herzegovina is allowed to break apart by its neighbors, the European Union, and other major powers, we can say that ethnic cleansing has succeeded. But ethnic homogeneity—a condition often overstated and superficially claimed for states that are more heterogeneous than imagined—is no formula for stability. Certainly in Bosnia-Herzegovina, any independence for Republika Srpska (with the border drawn “on ethnic lines”) is likely to result in a new war. Bosnia-Herzegovina is still in the process of being made, its form an evolving one. While there are certainly grounds for being pessimistic about its future given its current ethnoterritorial arrangement, institutional burdens, and polarized politics, there is also some recognition among most of its divided political class that they are stuck together.
Gerard Toal and Carl T. Dahlman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730360
- eISBN:
- 9780199895250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730360.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter discusses the war and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. It covers the arrival of several paramilitary or “volunteer” units preparing to ethnically cleanse Zvornik and other towns in the Drina ...
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This chapter discusses the war and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. It covers the arrival of several paramilitary or “volunteer” units preparing to ethnically cleanse Zvornik and other towns in the Drina River valley; Doboj's strategic geography; Jajce and the Croat–Muslim War; turning points and the war's end, 1994–5; and the legacy of war.Less
This chapter discusses the war and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. It covers the arrival of several paramilitary or “volunteer” units preparing to ethnically cleanse Zvornik and other towns in the Drina River valley; Doboj's strategic geography; Jajce and the Croat–Muslim War; turning points and the war's end, 1994–5; and the legacy of war.
Gerard Toal and Carl T. Dahlman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730360
- eISBN:
- 9780199895250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730360.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter considers five moments in the development of ambivalent policies that responded to the Bosnian war, policies that are significant for they made it possible to think of reversing ethnic ...
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This chapter considers five moments in the development of ambivalent policies that responded to the Bosnian war, policies that are significant for they made it possible to think of reversing ethnic cleansing yet also made it very difficult to achieve. The focus is largely on the United States, which proved to be the most significant actor in ending the war. If there is one theme characterizing the complexity then it is persistent ambivalence, a policy outcome that was the result of conflicting understandings of the Bosnian war rather than a singular attitude characterized by uncertainty. Some leaders and institutional actors were passionate in their views on what the Bosnian war represented as a policy challenge; the problem was they disagreed. Some saw a quagmire, whereas others saw the necessity for robust intervention. When robust intervention became necessary, some wanted to simply end the war, whereas others saw the need to create conditions for building peace. A few saw the criminal motivations for the conflict, but most fell into the groupist frames of the perpetrators and media, conceiving it as an “ethnic war.” Most politicians wanted a quick solution. In accommodating conflicting discourse coalitions and navigating through limits created by domestic politics, the policy process produced ambivalence and a tolerance for contradictions.Less
This chapter considers five moments in the development of ambivalent policies that responded to the Bosnian war, policies that are significant for they made it possible to think of reversing ethnic cleansing yet also made it very difficult to achieve. The focus is largely on the United States, which proved to be the most significant actor in ending the war. If there is one theme characterizing the complexity then it is persistent ambivalence, a policy outcome that was the result of conflicting understandings of the Bosnian war rather than a singular attitude characterized by uncertainty. Some leaders and institutional actors were passionate in their views on what the Bosnian war represented as a policy challenge; the problem was they disagreed. Some saw a quagmire, whereas others saw the necessity for robust intervention. When robust intervention became necessary, some wanted to simply end the war, whereas others saw the need to create conditions for building peace. A few saw the criminal motivations for the conflict, but most fell into the groupist frames of the perpetrators and media, conceiving it as an “ethnic war.” Most politicians wanted a quick solution. In accommodating conflicting discourse coalitions and navigating through limits created by domestic politics, the policy process produced ambivalence and a tolerance for contradictions.
Richard Caplan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199263455
- eISBN:
- 9780191602726
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199263450.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Examines the challenge of resettling refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and evaluates efforts to reverse ethnic cleansing and re-establish communities of mixed ethnicity. The ...
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Examines the challenge of resettling refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and evaluates efforts to reverse ethnic cleansing and re-establish communities of mixed ethnicity. The reintegration of refugees and IDPs requires the establishment of a secure environment that in turn requires not only effective policing but also the prosecution of war criminals; the establishment of the rule of law, including a legal framework that enables the restitution of property; and a commitment of economic resources to ensure that returnees have adequate jobs, education, health care, and social services. The challenge also raises normative issues, including whether the restoration of multi-ethnic societies is always a proper and fitting objective and how far efforts should extend to achieve that objective given the further hardships for the displaced that it may entail.Less
Examines the challenge of resettling refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and evaluates efforts to reverse ethnic cleansing and re-establish communities of mixed ethnicity. The reintegration of refugees and IDPs requires the establishment of a secure environment that in turn requires not only effective policing but also the prosecution of war criminals; the establishment of the rule of law, including a legal framework that enables the restitution of property; and a commitment of economic resources to ensure that returnees have adequate jobs, education, health care, and social services. The challenge also raises normative issues, including whether the restoration of multi-ethnic societies is always a proper and fitting objective and how far efforts should extend to achieve that objective given the further hardships for the displaced that it may entail.
Gerard Toal and Carl T. Dahlman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730360
- eISBN:
- 9780199895250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730360.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter surveys the immediate postwar situation and documents early return efforts and the strivings of local authorities to consolidate ethnic cleansing. The international community's early ...
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This chapter surveys the immediate postwar situation and documents early return efforts and the strivings of local authorities to consolidate ethnic cleansing. The international community's early efforts failed to resolve the broader problems blocking minority returns, namely, the poisonous political discourse in Bosnia, persistent security problems for returnees, irregular and ad hoc property laws, and an emerging repertoire of obstructionist responses to Annex 7. Moreover, local ethnocracies had everything to gain and nothing to lose from continued displacement. Conditions of immobility and insecurity in postwar Bosnia bolstered the political and economic foundations of the new ethnoterritorial order. Captured populations had helped to return the ethnic parties to power, and returnees were easily intimidated by unchecked violence and the impunity enjoyed by well-known local war criminals.Less
This chapter surveys the immediate postwar situation and documents early return efforts and the strivings of local authorities to consolidate ethnic cleansing. The international community's early efforts failed to resolve the broader problems blocking minority returns, namely, the poisonous political discourse in Bosnia, persistent security problems for returnees, irregular and ad hoc property laws, and an emerging repertoire of obstructionist responses to Annex 7. Moreover, local ethnocracies had everything to gain and nothing to lose from continued displacement. Conditions of immobility and insecurity in postwar Bosnia bolstered the political and economic foundations of the new ethnoterritorial order. Captured populations had helped to return the ethnic parties to power, and returnees were easily intimidated by unchecked violence and the impunity enjoyed by well-known local war criminals.
Michael Banton
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280613
- eISBN:
- 9780191598760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280610.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
More detailed consideration is given to CERD's jurisprudence on particular articles, such as the recommendation that Article 3 constitutes a general prohibition of racial segregation and not just of ...
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More detailed consideration is given to CERD's jurisprudence on particular articles, such as the recommendation that Article 3 constitutes a general prohibition of racial segregation and not just of apartheid. The discussion of particular articles is related to the Committee's observations on particular reports. It concludes that the dialogue with European states has been productive because there is also pressure for action arising within these states.Less
More detailed consideration is given to CERD's jurisprudence on particular articles, such as the recommendation that Article 3 constitutes a general prohibition of racial segregation and not just of apartheid. The discussion of particular articles is related to the Committee's observations on particular reports. It concludes that the dialogue with European states has been productive because there is also pressure for action arising within these states.
Daniel A. Madigan
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199827879
- eISBN:
- 9780199919451
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199827879.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. Against the widespread perception in the West of Muslim responsibility for ethnic cleansing, this chapter cites statistics to the ...
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This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. Against the widespread perception in the West of Muslim responsibility for ethnic cleansing, this chapter cites statistics to the effect that the vast majority of people who died in the Bosnian War did so at the hands of Orthodox Christian Serbs. And in Rwanda, nearly a million Christians were killed by other Christians in three short months. It argues that these tragic statistics are conveniently forgotten in the West, a failure of memory that makes the Christian-Muslim dialogue difficult. The chapter also pleads for interreligious dialogues to be concerned not only for the marginalized of one’s own religion, but for all the marginalized of the world, regardless of religion.Less
This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. Against the widespread perception in the West of Muslim responsibility for ethnic cleansing, this chapter cites statistics to the effect that the vast majority of people who died in the Bosnian War did so at the hands of Orthodox Christian Serbs. And in Rwanda, nearly a million Christians were killed by other Christians in three short months. It argues that these tragic statistics are conveniently forgotten in the West, a failure of memory that makes the Christian-Muslim dialogue difficult. The chapter also pleads for interreligious dialogues to be concerned not only for the marginalized of one’s own religion, but for all the marginalized of the world, regardless of religion.
Gerard Toal and Carl T. Dahlman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730360
- eISBN:
- 9780199895250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730360.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter describes how the international community developed the institutional capacity to address the daunting challenge of implementing Annex 7, which provided the right to return. Houses ...
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This chapter describes how the international community developed the institutional capacity to address the daunting challenge of implementing Annex 7, which provided the right to return. Houses burning through the night were a telltale sign of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian war. But in August 1997, almost two years after Dayton, they were a sign that the international effort to promote minority returns was in trouble. The homes belonged to Bosniaks who had tried to return to villages near the HDZ-controlled town of Jajce but were chased away by marauding gangs of Bosnian Croats, including the local HVO militia.Less
This chapter describes how the international community developed the institutional capacity to address the daunting challenge of implementing Annex 7, which provided the right to return. Houses burning through the night were a telltale sign of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian war. But in August 1997, almost two years after Dayton, they were a sign that the international effort to promote minority returns was in trouble. The homes belonged to Bosniaks who had tried to return to villages near the HDZ-controlled town of Jajce but were chased away by marauding gangs of Bosnian Croats, including the local HVO militia.
The Independent International Commission on Kosovo
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199243099
- eISBN:
- 9780191599538
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199243093.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Discusses the aims and the conduct of the NATO bombing campaign against the Yugoslavia; the refugee crisis and civilian casualties of the campaign; and the diplomatic events leading to the final ...
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Discusses the aims and the conduct of the NATO bombing campaign against the Yugoslavia; the refugee crisis and civilian casualties of the campaign; and the diplomatic events leading to the final peace agreement. The chapter argues that the NATO campaign did not itself provoke Serbian military's attacks on Kosovo civilians, but that the intervention and the removal of ground monitors may have created an internal environment that made Belgrade government's cleansing operation feasible. The chapter concludes that the intervention failed to achieve its avowed aim of preventing massive ethnic cleansing, that the Kosovar Albanian population had to endure tremendous suffering before finally achieving their freedom and that Milosevic remained in power, however, as an indicted war criminal.Less
Discusses the aims and the conduct of the NATO bombing campaign against the Yugoslavia; the refugee crisis and civilian casualties of the campaign; and the diplomatic events leading to the final peace agreement. The chapter argues that the NATO campaign did not itself provoke Serbian military's attacks on Kosovo civilians, but that the intervention and the removal of ground monitors may have created an internal environment that made Belgrade government's cleansing operation feasible. The chapter concludes that the intervention failed to achieve its avowed aim of preventing massive ethnic cleansing, that the Kosovar Albanian population had to endure tremendous suffering before finally achieving their freedom and that Milosevic remained in power, however, as an indicted war criminal.
Alexander V. Prusin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199297535
- eISBN:
- 9780191594328
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297535.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Political History
This chapter examines armed conflicts that raged between different political and nationality groups across the Soviet‐German front lines. The Soviet‐German war detonated dormant conflicts, in which ...
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This chapter examines armed conflicts that raged between different political and nationality groups across the Soviet‐German front lines. The Soviet‐German war detonated dormant conflicts, in which the old rivals claimed the contested territories in accordance with their claims of ethnic demography, and guerrillas used violence as the most effective homogenizing tool in ethnic cleansing and ‘pacifications’.Less
This chapter examines armed conflicts that raged between different political and nationality groups across the Soviet‐German front lines. The Soviet‐German war detonated dormant conflicts, in which the old rivals claimed the contested territories in accordance with their claims of ethnic demography, and guerrillas used violence as the most effective homogenizing tool in ethnic cleansing and ‘pacifications’.
Taner Akçam
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153339
- eISBN:
- 9781400841844
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153339.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This chapter talks about how, throughout the years of 1913–14 until its entry into the war, the Ottoman government carried out a basic ethnic-cleansing operation, particularly against the Greeks in ...
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This chapter talks about how, throughout the years of 1913–14 until its entry into the war, the Ottoman government carried out a basic ethnic-cleansing operation, particularly against the Greeks in Thrace and the Aegean littoral. They used a dual-track mechanism extensively. On one hand, they signed separate “population exchange” agreements with the governments of the Balkan states; on the other hand, they terrorized Ottoman Greek subjects, including with massacres, to force them to move to Greece. This wide-scale suppressive policy brought the Ottomans to the brink of war with Greece in the summer of 1914. The policy of forceful expulsion of ethnic groups was not, however, unique to the Ottomans, as other Balkan countries also commonly employed it against Muslims.Less
This chapter talks about how, throughout the years of 1913–14 until its entry into the war, the Ottoman government carried out a basic ethnic-cleansing operation, particularly against the Greeks in Thrace and the Aegean littoral. They used a dual-track mechanism extensively. On one hand, they signed separate “population exchange” agreements with the governments of the Balkan states; on the other hand, they terrorized Ottoman Greek subjects, including with massacres, to force them to move to Greece. This wide-scale suppressive policy brought the Ottomans to the brink of war with Greece in the summer of 1914. The policy of forceful expulsion of ethnic groups was not, however, unique to the Ottomans, as other Balkan countries also commonly employed it against Muslims.
Keith Doubt
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823227006
- eISBN:
- 9780823235872
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823227006.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter discusses ethnic cleaning in Bosnia. The term “ethnic cleansing” is a widely misused euphemism for the arrests, expulsions, rapes, and murders of Bosnian ...
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This chapter discusses ethnic cleaning in Bosnia. The term “ethnic cleansing” is a widely misused euphemism for the arrests, expulsions, rapes, and murders of Bosnian citizens. The use of this phrase obstructs an adequate understanding of the activity that the term labels. The term is euphemistic because the word “cleansing” implies an activity that is ordinary, harmless, and even beneficial. However, there was nothing ordinary, harmless, or beneficial about the arrests, expulsions, rapes, and murders of hundreds of thousands of Bosnian citizens.Less
This chapter discusses ethnic cleaning in Bosnia. The term “ethnic cleansing” is a widely misused euphemism for the arrests, expulsions, rapes, and murders of Bosnian citizens. The use of this phrase obstructs an adequate understanding of the activity that the term labels. The term is euphemistic because the word “cleansing” implies an activity that is ordinary, harmless, and even beneficial. However, there was nothing ordinary, harmless, or beneficial about the arrests, expulsions, rapes, and murders of hundreds of thousands of Bosnian citizens.
Taner Akçam
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153339
- eISBN:
- 9781400841844
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153339.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
Introducing new evidence from more than 600 secret Ottoman documents, this book demonstrates in detail that the Armenian Genocide and the expulsion of Greeks from the late Ottoman Empire resulted ...
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Introducing new evidence from more than 600 secret Ottoman documents, this book demonstrates in detail that the Armenian Genocide and the expulsion of Greeks from the late Ottoman Empire resulted from an official effort to rid the empire of its Christian subjects. This book goes deep inside the bureaucratic machinery of Ottoman Turkey to show how a dying empire embraced genocide and ethnic cleansing. Although the deportation and killing of Armenians was internationally condemned in 1915 as a “crime against humanity and civilization,” the Ottoman government initiated a policy of denial that is still maintained by the Turkish Republic. The case for Turkey's “official history” rests on documents from the Ottoman imperial archives, to which access has been heavily restricted until recently. It is this very source that the book now uses to overturn the official narrative. The documents presented here attest to a late-Ottoman policy of Turkification, the goal of which was no less than the radical demographic transformation of Anatolia. To that end, about one-third of Anatolia's 15 million people were displaced, deported, expelled, or massacred, destroying the ethno-religious diversity of an ancient cultural crossroads of East and West, and paving the way for the Turkish Republic. By uncovering the central roles played by demographic engineering and assimilation in the Armenian Genocide, this book will fundamentally change how this crime is understood and show that physical destruction is not the only aspect of the genocidal process.Less
Introducing new evidence from more than 600 secret Ottoman documents, this book demonstrates in detail that the Armenian Genocide and the expulsion of Greeks from the late Ottoman Empire resulted from an official effort to rid the empire of its Christian subjects. This book goes deep inside the bureaucratic machinery of Ottoman Turkey to show how a dying empire embraced genocide and ethnic cleansing. Although the deportation and killing of Armenians was internationally condemned in 1915 as a “crime against humanity and civilization,” the Ottoman government initiated a policy of denial that is still maintained by the Turkish Republic. The case for Turkey's “official history” rests on documents from the Ottoman imperial archives, to which access has been heavily restricted until recently. It is this very source that the book now uses to overturn the official narrative. The documents presented here attest to a late-Ottoman policy of Turkification, the goal of which was no less than the radical demographic transformation of Anatolia. To that end, about one-third of Anatolia's 15 million people were displaced, deported, expelled, or massacred, destroying the ethno-religious diversity of an ancient cultural crossroads of East and West, and paving the way for the Turkish Republic. By uncovering the central roles played by demographic engineering and assimilation in the Armenian Genocide, this book will fundamentally change how this crime is understood and show that physical destruction is not the only aspect of the genocidal process.
Abbey Steele
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501713736
- eISBN:
- 9781501709753
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501713736.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Security Studies
Chapter one offers a typology of displacement, based on how armed groups target violence against civilians. Selective violence leads to individual escape, indiscriminate violence leads to mass ...
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Chapter one offers a typology of displacement, based on how armed groups target violence against civilians. Selective violence leads to individual escape, indiscriminate violence leads to mass relocation, and collective violence leads to political cleansing. The first two types are unintentional outcomes of armed groups’ violence, while political cleansing is purposeful displacement. The chapter then goes on to explain when and where armed groups are most likely to attempt political cleansing during civil war. Armed groups displace civilians who they believe are loyal to their rivals, during contestation for territory. Elections during wars can forge collective identities through political parties, reveal civilians’ loyalties, and spur politicians to ally with armed groups.Less
Chapter one offers a typology of displacement, based on how armed groups target violence against civilians. Selective violence leads to individual escape, indiscriminate violence leads to mass relocation, and collective violence leads to political cleansing. The first two types are unintentional outcomes of armed groups’ violence, while political cleansing is purposeful displacement. The chapter then goes on to explain when and where armed groups are most likely to attempt political cleansing during civil war. Armed groups displace civilians who they believe are loyal to their rivals, during contestation for territory. Elections during wars can forge collective identities through political parties, reveal civilians’ loyalties, and spur politicians to ally with armed groups.
Laurence Broers
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474450522
- eISBN:
- 9781474476546
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474450522.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter engages with the human consequences of the territorial imaginings examined in the previous chapter: the ethnic cleansing of populations whose presence did not accord with exclusive ...
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This chapter engages with the human consequences of the territorial imaginings examined in the previous chapter: the ethnic cleansing of populations whose presence did not accord with exclusive visions of national space. The chapter provides a broad overview of the population movements that accompanied the violence of 1988-1994, seeking to disaggregate our understanding of ‘population exchange’. The chapter argues for a differentiated understanding of forced displacement, conditioned by different motives and conceptions of space. ‘Communal ethnic cleansing’ is explored as a collective eviction of ethnic others informed by underlying affective dispositions, characterising mass displacements in the 1988-90 period. ‘Strategic ethnic cleansing’ is explored as the forced expulsion of ethnic others in the service of military-strategic goals, characterising mass displacements in the 1991-94 period. The chapter closes by considering the prospects and politics of return and restitution.Less
This chapter engages with the human consequences of the territorial imaginings examined in the previous chapter: the ethnic cleansing of populations whose presence did not accord with exclusive visions of national space. The chapter provides a broad overview of the population movements that accompanied the violence of 1988-1994, seeking to disaggregate our understanding of ‘population exchange’. The chapter argues for a differentiated understanding of forced displacement, conditioned by different motives and conceptions of space. ‘Communal ethnic cleansing’ is explored as a collective eviction of ethnic others informed by underlying affective dispositions, characterising mass displacements in the 1988-90 period. ‘Strategic ethnic cleansing’ is explored as the forced expulsion of ethnic others in the service of military-strategic goals, characterising mass displacements in the 1991-94 period. The chapter closes by considering the prospects and politics of return and restitution.
RAIMO VÄYRYNEN and LEILA ALIEVA
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198297406
- eISBN:
- 9780191685330
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198297406.003.0013
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The Caucasus has been torn by conflicts since 1988, and some of these conflicts became large-scale wars due to the usage of heavy weapons. These relatively short wars resulted in major distractions, ...
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The Caucasus has been torn by conflicts since 1988, and some of these conflicts became large-scale wars due to the usage of heavy weapons. These relatively short wars resulted in major distractions, casualties, and displacements, and this includes ethnic ‘cleansing’ across the region. Together with violence, economic downfall and the breakdown of ties with international communities occurred. Humanitarian emergencies in the South Caucasus were due to the breakdown of the multinational Soviet empire. This chapter begins with the different conflicts in the South Caucasus, both national and territorial, as well as the economic structure and developments. Social and political structures are also presented. The situation, especially the severity, of the humanitarian emergencies in South Caucasus is also provided. The chapter concludes by providing studies as to how improvement in the standards of living may be achieved in the South Caucasus.Less
The Caucasus has been torn by conflicts since 1988, and some of these conflicts became large-scale wars due to the usage of heavy weapons. These relatively short wars resulted in major distractions, casualties, and displacements, and this includes ethnic ‘cleansing’ across the region. Together with violence, economic downfall and the breakdown of ties with international communities occurred. Humanitarian emergencies in the South Caucasus were due to the breakdown of the multinational Soviet empire. This chapter begins with the different conflicts in the South Caucasus, both national and territorial, as well as the economic structure and developments. Social and political structures are also presented. The situation, especially the severity, of the humanitarian emergencies in South Caucasus is also provided. The chapter concludes by providing studies as to how improvement in the standards of living may be achieved in the South Caucasus.
Elazar Barkan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804771696
- eISBN:
- 9780804777223
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804771696.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law
This chapter begins by describing the state of expulsion, followed by a short review of the various legal instruments that reject population transfers and ethnic cleansing, and the use of these ...
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This chapter begins by describing the state of expulsion, followed by a short review of the various legal instruments that reject population transfers and ethnic cleansing, and the use of these instruments by advocates to assert that population transfers have always been illegal despite the widespread practice of such displacements. Based on these assertions, advocates and international organizations (including the UNHCR) further assert that the remedy for expulsion is repatriation, although this contradicts the international practice. There has been great dissonance between the declarations and practice of refugee politics throughout the twentieth century and a disturbing relationship between the rhetoric of human rights and the practice of expulsion. The present historical investigation explores the continued displacement of refugees as a result of failed repatriation and the lack of alternative policies. It underscores first the almost total lack of examples of minority return as a result of implementing the right to repatriation, with few exceptions that are a result of politics and force, not implementation of rights. This predicament between rhetorical emphasis on rights and lack of action is explored as a particularity of the legal limbo of refugees, who are not citizens of the state that is supposed to protect them. But perhaps the predicament is even wider and applies to rights more generally: the chapter ends with a discussion of Arendt's emphasis on the refugee and the violation of the rights of refugees as an emblem of the limitation of the notion of rights.Less
This chapter begins by describing the state of expulsion, followed by a short review of the various legal instruments that reject population transfers and ethnic cleansing, and the use of these instruments by advocates to assert that population transfers have always been illegal despite the widespread practice of such displacements. Based on these assertions, advocates and international organizations (including the UNHCR) further assert that the remedy for expulsion is repatriation, although this contradicts the international practice. There has been great dissonance between the declarations and practice of refugee politics throughout the twentieth century and a disturbing relationship between the rhetoric of human rights and the practice of expulsion. The present historical investigation explores the continued displacement of refugees as a result of failed repatriation and the lack of alternative policies. It underscores first the almost total lack of examples of minority return as a result of implementing the right to repatriation, with few exceptions that are a result of politics and force, not implementation of rights. This predicament between rhetorical emphasis on rights and lack of action is explored as a particularity of the legal limbo of refugees, who are not citizens of the state that is supposed to protect them. But perhaps the predicament is even wider and applies to rights more generally: the chapter ends with a discussion of Arendt's emphasis on the refugee and the violation of the rights of refugees as an emblem of the limitation of the notion of rights.
