Thesis advisor: Eve Spangler / United States foreign policy must balance national interests with international obligations, including a commitment to human rights. Genocide represents an enormous violation of human rights but also a significant challenge to the formulation of United States foreign policies. The word genocide was created to encompass the multi-layered characteristics of the systematic and intentional nature of mass human destruction. Though the US has vowed to prevent and stop genocide from occurring, its actions do not indicate so. In Turkey the US failed to defend Armenians, using political principles to justify the decision. Association between the Holocaust and genocide has limited US recognition and action in other situations. Various methods were employed in response to genocide in Rwanda in order to avoid an obligation to action. Emphasizing the people and the society which they compose, the United States must not focus on a strict definition of genocide but must broaden its comprehension beyond technicalities in order to responsibly recognize and respond to genocide, and in doing so capture the intended comprehension of the word. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History. / Discipline: Sociology. / Discipline: College Honors Program.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_102260 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Bastien, Danielle |
| Publisher | Boston College |
| Source Sets | Boston College |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, thesis |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. |
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