Architectures of Violence: The Command Structures of Modern Mass Atrocities, from Yugoslavia to Syria [Hardcover]

Paramilitary or irregular units have been involved in practically every case of identity-based mass violence in the modern world, but detailed analysis of these dynamics is rare. Exploring the case of former Yugoslavia, the genocides in Rwanda and Darfur, and the ongoing violence in Syria, Kate Ferguson exposes the relationships between paramilitaries, state commands, local communities, and organized crime. She presents these 'architectures of violence' as a way of comprehending how the various structures of command and control fit together into domestic and international webs of support enabling and encouraging irregular and paramilitary violence.Visible paramilitary participation in modern mass atrocities has succeeded in masking the continued dominance of the state in a number of violent crises. Irregular combatants have participated so significantly in committing atrocity crimes because political elites benefit from using unconventional forces to fulfil ambitions that violate international law--and international policy responses are hindered when responsibility for violence is ambiguous. Ferguson's inquiry into these overlooked dynamics of mass violence unveils substantial loopholes in current atrocity prevention architecture. Until these are addressed, state authorities will likely continue to use irregular combatants as perpetrators of atrocity.PrefacePart I1. Introduction2. Laying foundationsPart II3. Building blocks: an introduction to architectures of violence4. Constructing an architecture of atrocity: the Serbian model5. An architecture of opportunism: the Croatian model6. The irregular architecture of defence: the Bosnian Muslim model7. Building architectures: some conclusions8. LessonsPart III9. Criminal structures10. LessonsPart IV11. Bellum omnium contra omnes? Networks of community violence, family loyalty,and social complicity12. LessonsPart V13. Conclusions14. Lessons and recommendationsBibliographyDr Kate Ferguson is a foreign policy experlÃ!