Agents of Atrocity : Leaders, Followers, and the Violation of Human Rights in Civil War

he gruesome atrocities of civil and ethnic wars are all too familiar, if hardly unprecedented. Mitchell places respon-si-bility clearly in the hands of political leadership, identifying two types of leaders: Machiavellians who strategically use vio-lence to gain and retain power; and Grand Inquisitors who are dogmatically devoted to an ideology and use violence as a form of purification. He explores the interaction of leaders, their management of repression, and the relationship between reason and the passions to shed light on the causes of and respon-si-bility for violations of human rights. By examining the English and Russian civil wars, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mitchell highlights how violence is a choice and individuals are morally accountable. He concludes that holding leaders and their agents responsible for their actions is one of the most important tools for deterring mistreatment of civilians.

The book provides a general explanation of why the relationship between a government and its citizens deteriorates into violence by examining, in both contemporary and historical settings, the motives of those involved.

Publishers Weekly

A compact and cogent study of atrocities in civil wars, this book argues that they are mostly volitional acts by individuals rather than the inevitable results of impersonal forces. The individuals include principals who give the orders and agents who execute them, and the principals in turn are those who direct atrocious levels of violence at specific threats and those who consider whole religions or ethnic groups to be threats. The Russian civil war of 1918-1921 was fought with both sides feeling that they had a free hand, with the Bolsheviks under Lenin's orders to execute whole categories of people via a motley crew of agents. The English civil war was comparatively free of atrocities; the most influential principal, Oliver Cromwell, was relatively tolerant and kept his agents, the New Model Army, under rigid discipline. (The royalists tended to reply in kind.) Israel, University of New Mexico political scientist Mitchell argues, targets specific threats only, with principals and agents divided on how much violence to use; along with the international environment, Mitchell argues that the split has limited the bloodshed in the Middle East. The book is too short to give full weight to the case it makes, but what it offers is still enough to generate useful discussions. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Who is responsible for the terror, atrocities, and violations of human rights that occur in civil wars? Blame can be directly attributed to the actual perpetrators of the massacres, rapes, and pillaging - but it can also be placed on the leaders who often hide behind their ambivalent orders. Placing responsibility clearly in the hands of political leadership, Mitchell explores the interaction of leaders, their management practices and repressive policies, using the Arab-Israeli conflict and the English and Russian civil wars to shed light on when leaders are more or less likely to turn to atrocities to achieve their goals. With civil wars continuing to rage around the world, Agents of Atrocity provides a timely history of atrocities and the leaders and henchmen who carried them out, while providing a new context for understanding why they occur and how they can be prevented in the future.

Who is responsible for the terror, atrocities, and violations of human rights that occur in civil wars? Blame can be directly attributed to the actual perpetrators of the massacres, rapes, and pillaging--but it can also be placed on the leaders who often hide behind their ambivalent orders. Placing responsibility clearly in the hands of political leadership, Mitchell explores the interaction of leaders, their management practices and repressive policies, using the English and Russian civil wars to shed light on when leaders are more or less likely to turn to atrocities to achieve their goals. With civil wars continuing to rage around the world, Agents of Atrocity provides a timely history of atrocities and the leaders and henchmen who carried them out, while providing a new context for understanding why they occur and how they can be prevented in the future.--Publisher description "Placing responsibility clearly in the hands of political leadership, Mitchell explores the interaction of leaders, their management practices and repressive policies, using the English and Russian civil wars to shed light on when leaders are more or less likely to turn to atrocities to achieve their goals. With civil wars continuing to rage around the world, Agents of Atrocity provides a timely history of atrocities and the leaders and henchmen who carried them out, while providing a new context for understanding why they occur and how they can be prevented in the future."--BOOK JACKET. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Machiavelli, the Grand Inquisitor, and Count Tilly’s Reward....Pages 1-27 The Principals and the Agents of Political Violence....Pages 29-55 The Arab-Israeli 20,000-Day War....Pages 57-95 The Russian Civil War....Pages 97-131 The English Civil War....Pages 133-174 The Three Horsemen of Political Violence....Pages 175-189 Back Matter....Pages 191-228 The bastard theory of political violence has one central proposition: bastards do the violence.