WHAT ROLE DOES POLITICAL LEADERSHIP PLAY IN MASS-VIOLENCE

THE BIG QUESTIONS: What kind of situations appear to be most conducive to the emergence of tyranny? How do leaders become mass-murders? Who are these people? Why do their people sometimes support and aid them in genocide or other types of mass violence?

WHAT FACTORS DON’T SEEM TO BE CORE CAUSES FOR A MASS MURDER TO COME TO POWER? Economic development & education: Life in Germany and Russia had been getting better prior to the crises that triggered their darkest periods Ethnic division isn’t always present when genocide occurs: Rwanda (a case of backlash against a longstanding “middle man” group) vs. Germany (where the targets were created) Does the brutal leader thrive only under a certain culture and religion? No: Middle-East (Hussein), Europe (Hitler), Latin America (Trujillo), Asia (Mao), Africa (Idi Amin)

WHAT FACTORS DON’T SEEM TO BE CORE CAUSES FOR A MASS MURDER TO COME TO POWER? Does the type of development matter? Both agrarian and industrial societies have experienced brutality Are all mass-murders totalitarians? No. Russia’s Stalin vs. Iraq under Hussein Is having balanced power a way to ensure that a mass- murderer won’t ever seize power? Does a large welfare state risk tyranny? (Fascism vs. democratic socialism vs. communism) While new states are more susceptible to the emergence of brutal leaders, old states sometimes have dark periods as well Mass murderers don’t all come to power via coups and violence: Germany

WHAT STATES ARE MOST SUSCEPITBLE? WHEN AND HOW DO LEADERS BECOME MASS-MURDERS? Daniel Chirot’s propositions are based on his comparative study of 13 tyrannical regimes in the 20 th C: Pol Pot (Cambodia), Mao (China), Stalin (Russia), Hitler (Germany), Kim (N. Korea), Ceausescu (Romania), Ne Win (Burma / Miramar), Argentina’s Junta, Trujillo (Dominican Republic), Duvalier (Haiti), Bokassa (Central African Republic), and Idi Amin (Uganda)

WHEN AND HOW DO LEADERS BECOME MASS-MURDERS? THREE BIG FACTORS The relative deprivation thesis: The more chaotic (relative to expectations and experience) the economic system, the more likely a self-proclaimed savior will emerge and be supported both by elites and masses Weak states, especially ones that represent a bygone era with respect to ideology and structure: Political and esp. bureaucratic chaos (esp. divided elites) prevents states from crushing rising tyrants and allows the tyrants to consolidate power. An intl. system that allows or even encourages despotism

WHEN AND HOW DO LEADERS BECOME MASS-MURDERS? Cultural susceptibility to “tyrannical nationalism”: “For any national, new or old, we can judge the extent to which its political and intellectual elite’s identify is based on jealous and vengeful resentment and memories of past wrongs, whether real or imagined.” – Communal ideologies of conflict, virtue, and heredity Germany, Russia, and Japan Manifest destiny vs. “melting pots” and “cosmic races: The US and Latin American treatment of indigenous and African descendent peoples – Some societies have an ideology that emphasizes the inevitability of conflict with other groups (US attitudes towards indigenous populations and our manifest destiny; Islamic fascism, evil empires, and the like)

WHEN AND HOW DO LEADERS BECOME MASS-MURDERS? Societies that emphasize communal identity over human rights are particularly susceptible to mass violence – Were Japan’s atrocities in WW2 in part due to a culture that emphasized both communalism and the problems noted above – Democracies sometimes use mass violence during war time: Japanese internment and nuclear weapons use; Guantanamo Societies that are isolated (by choice or as a consequence of their actions) from the outside world are more likely to be detached from changing universal norms on human rights – Are we pursuing the best policies for human rights in our dealings with Miramar, Iran, and N. Korea? What can our changing relationship with China over time tell us about the upside of engaging closed societies?

COMPARING TYRANTS: STALIN AND HITLER Why might Stalin have been even worse than Hitler ? Who were Stalin’s million victims? The Bolsheviks and Trotskyites (1930s, 10 million or so in round after round of purges that included even his closest associates), “Kulak” peasants (1920S and 30s), 2 million ex-Soviet POWs (1940s), and he died as a purge against Jews was starting. Who were Hitler’s 7-10 million victims? Mostly Jews, but also 2-3 million non-Jewish Poles and Slavs, as well as Gypsies, homosexuals, handicapped, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the spouses of these groups. Why does Stalin get treated differently than Hitler in some circles? Communism like various types of nationalism has apologists who downplay atrocities because they are attracted to the larger cause… A side note about Cuba.

COMPARING TYRANTS: STALIN AND HITLER Why was Stalin able to start murdering right away, while Hitler (and Hussein) had to bide their time? Stalin came to power via a civil war and a powerful ideology; he had complete control of civil society and of force. Hitler did most of his murdering in the last five years, targeting Jews who made up less than 1% of the German population when Hitler came to power. The totalitarian homogenization of culture took longer under Hitler: He initially “prepared” the population with massive amounts of very effective propaganda and by causing them to cross ethical lines with anti-miscegenation and other discriminatory laws.