Genocides have been studied throughout history as deliberately killing a group of people based on their racial identities. The question that arises is why do people commit such crimes against innocent people based on their race or religion? The two international relation theories that relate to atrocities such as genocides is realism and constructivism. Although, genocides can describe the social construct of how idea has shifted over time, the realist perspective best explains the decision making and overall selfishness of countries committing or overall reaction to genocides.
Realism focuses on the characteristics of an individual and the states as the key factors (Mingst, 2016). As the states and individuals are power seeking, it is easy …show more content…
For instance, Hitler did not view eliminating majority of the Jewish population as a problem. Hitler was looking out for the best interest of his country and sees it has increasing its relative power against other states.While other countries in the West Hemisphere viewed the Holocaust as a genocide. The norms in Denmark shifted as the government did not agree with the Nazis to give up the Jewish Danes in their country, as before they needed to cooperate with the German for military resources for the benefit of their economy (Ignatieff, 2013). The ethnic identities explains why certain ethnic groups were hated upon. Ethnic identities are socially constructed by the public to fit where people belong in each group. In the genocide in Rwanda, the ethnic tension between the Hutus and Tutsis caused thousands of deaths because of self identifying how each person fits into the group. About 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were slaughtered (History.com Staff, 2009) People who were in the middle on Hutus and majority Tutsi were still killed based on a social construct by society. The Nuremberg Trials established the precedent for future war crimes and punished placed for the the actors responsible for violating humans (Mingst, 2016). The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide was created to establish the regulations of what is classified as a genocide …show more content…
In the Holocaust, Denmark was forced to cooperate with Germany for its military resources for its country. It was norm for the rest of the countries to comply in gathering all of the Jews in their country, as a fear mechanism for the Nazis. Their belief shifted as viewing the Germans as an ally and more as cruel because of the gathering of only Jewish people in other countries. The government protected all the Jews from the Nazis. Denmark viewed as the action of removing all Jews from their homes as bad. However, realism explains more in depth why the individuals in a country commit genocides. Realism explains why Germany and the Nazi regime removed the Jews because it was affecting their strength and how they are viewed as a country. Germany was focused on becoming the most powerful nation in the world. The Nazis got rid of the undesirables affecting their strength to become more powerful. Also, Bush administration was extremely unaffected by the genocide in Rwanda. Africa is a poor continent and mainly forgotten by the Western Hemisphere. Although, Rwanda offers no monetary or strategic value to the United States, Bush administration knew of the acts being committed. It was in his best interest to involved himself in the genocide if it was affecting America’s economy or overall security. Genocides describe why a country commits heinous acts against a particular ethnic group to increase their
Realism focuses on the characteristics of an individual and the states as the key factors (Mingst, 2016). As the states and individuals are power seeking, it is easy …show more content…
For instance, Hitler did not view eliminating majority of the Jewish population as a problem. Hitler was looking out for the best interest of his country and sees it has increasing its relative power against other states.While other countries in the West Hemisphere viewed the Holocaust as a genocide. The norms in Denmark shifted as the government did not agree with the Nazis to give up the Jewish Danes in their country, as before they needed to cooperate with the German for military resources for the benefit of their economy (Ignatieff, 2013). The ethnic identities explains why certain ethnic groups were hated upon. Ethnic identities are socially constructed by the public to fit where people belong in each group. In the genocide in Rwanda, the ethnic tension between the Hutus and Tutsis caused thousands of deaths because of self identifying how each person fits into the group. About 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were slaughtered (History.com Staff, 2009) People who were in the middle on Hutus and majority Tutsi were still killed based on a social construct by society. The Nuremberg Trials established the precedent for future war crimes and punished placed for the the actors responsible for violating humans (Mingst, 2016). The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide was created to establish the regulations of what is classified as a genocide …show more content…
In the Holocaust, Denmark was forced to cooperate with Germany for its military resources for its country. It was norm for the rest of the countries to comply in gathering all of the Jews in their country, as a fear mechanism for the Nazis. Their belief shifted as viewing the Germans as an ally and more as cruel because of the gathering of only Jewish people in other countries. The government protected all the Jews from the Nazis. Denmark viewed as the action of removing all Jews from their homes as bad. However, realism explains more in depth why the individuals in a country commit genocides. Realism explains why Germany and the Nazi regime removed the Jews because it was affecting their strength and how they are viewed as a country. Germany was focused on becoming the most powerful nation in the world. The Nazis got rid of the undesirables affecting their strength to become more powerful. Also, Bush administration was extremely unaffected by the genocide in Rwanda. Africa is a poor continent and mainly forgotten by the Western Hemisphere. Although, Rwanda offers no monetary or strategic value to the United States, Bush administration knew of the acts being committed. It was in his best interest to involved himself in the genocide if it was affecting America’s economy or overall security. Genocides describe why a country commits heinous acts against a particular ethnic group to increase their