Understanding Genocidal Killing in the Former Yugoslavia: Preliminary Observations

Abstract

The issue of whether interethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia during the early & mid-1990s is representative of genocidal killing is addressed. A literature review of contemporary genocide research is presented, focusing on Leo Kuper's (1981) study of the connection between war & genocide, Frank Chalk & Kurt Jonassohn's (1990) typology of genocide, Robert Jay Lifton's (1986) tripartite medical metaphor of genocide, & Robert Melson's (1992) study of the Armenian genocide & the Holocaust. The aforementioned models were all present in the former Yugoslavia. It is subsequently claimed that Serb & Croat nationalist leaders utilized aspects of WWII genocide before & during the interethnic conflict. Although the potential for the newly established European democracies to revert to authoritarian regimes remains, it is concluded that the creation of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda & the former Yugoslavia is an important step for addressing genocidal killing. J. W. Parker