How Mass Atrocities End Studies from Guatemala, Burundi, Indonesia, the Sudans, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Iraq

Given the brutality of mass atrocities, it is no wonder that one question dominates research and policy: what can we, who are not at risk, do to prevent such violence and hasten endings? But this question skips a more fundamental question for understanding the trajectory of violence: how do mass atrocities actually end? This volume presents an analysis of the processes, decisions, and factors that help bring about the end of mass atrocities. It includes qualitatively rich case studies from Burundi, Guatemala, Indonesia, Sudan, Bosnia, and Iraq, drawing patterns from wide-ranging data. As such, it offers a much needed correction to the popular 'salvation narrative' framing mass atrocity in terms of good and evil. The nuanced, multidisciplinary approach followed here represents not only an essential tool for scholars, but an important step forward in improving civilian protection.

Introduction Bridget Conley-Zilkic; 1. Guatemala: the persistence of genocidal logic beyond mass killing Roddy Brett; 2. Burundi: the anatomy of mass violence endgames Noel Twagiramungu; 3. Indonesia: why mass atrocity endings diverged in comparable civil wars Claire Smith; 4. Sudan: patterns of violence and imperfect endings Alex de Waal; 5. Bosnia-Herzegovina: endings real and imagined Bridget Conley-Zilkic; 6. Iraq: atrocity as political capital Fanar Haddad.

Bridget Conley-Zilkic is Research Director of World Peace Foundation, where she currently leads research on the How Mass Atrocities End project. She is also an Assistant Research Professor at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Massachusetts. Professor Conley-Zilkic has published multiple essays on mass atrocity prevention and response, and on the potential for museums to engage human rights issues. She received a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from State University of New York, Binghamton in 2001.