In the current issue of CMC magazine, we offered a mere glimpse into two new books by CMC professors John Roth and Jay Martin. The reviews below are part of CMC's Web Exclusive content.

Will Genocide Ever End?

A sense of urgency often attaches to issues about which people feel passionately and care deeply. So it is with questions of genocide.

Less than two years after a group of international scholars and humanitarians gathered for a conference in the United Kingdom, a collection of essays and commentaries were delivered to editors Carol Rittner, John Roth, and James M. Smith, and published under the banner, Will Genocide Ever End? (Aegis 2002).

The book is the latest in a long list of works on the subject by Roth, the Edward J. Sexton Professor of Philosophy, and chair of the department of philosophy and religious studies. Drawing on the knowledge of scholars across a variety of disciplines, "It presents a clear discussion of the issues, contextualizes the information historically, and offers insights to students in a variety of disciplines-philosophy, religious studies, political science, economics, law, and government," he explains.

The editors' efforts already have garnered praise from fellow academicians and researchers, including Frank Chalk, co-director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University. He praised the collection of essays as "an excellent introduction to the subject. Clearly organized, focused, and authoritative . . . valued by readers eager to understand the ignoble past of genocide and to consider useful approaches to combating it today."

As for the question on which the entire text focuses, Roth says that the contributors offer a very cautious "perhaps" as response. "None of these things is inevitable, but it requires a huge reorientation of will and resources to combat them. Holocausts can be prevented, interventions can take place. In the end, it depends on what people want to do."

—Marcy Rothenberg