Dear students:
You have been selected as a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring a case of genocide against the current Russian government. Your job is to use everything you learned this semester particularly in Adam Jones’ textbook to build a case against the Russian government to show that under the UN Convention that genocide has occurred in Ukraine. In order for you to make a compelling and ultimately successful case before the tribunal of justice each student must locate at least four different types of primary sources (meaning evidence) that show a systematic campaign of mass murder is indeed taking place in Ukraine today.
Please see link below for an explanation of primary sources:
It is your responsibility to answer all the questions below and document your answers with evidence. For this assignment you may browse the internet where many documents of archives and databases have been digitized. But the sources must come from legitimate databases/archives like the Library of Congress, for example. Since the events in Ukraine are ongoing many of the articles and images you will find will be primary sources in their earliest forms but for this project it is OK since we are witnessing the Russian invasion of Ukraine literally in real time. Credible primary sources can be found in digital archives like the National Archives or the US Holocaust Museum in Washington DC to name just two of many. There should be no references in your endnotes or bibliography to Wikipedia BUT you can use Wikileaks.
Be prepared however to contact a library or archives via phone or email if their websites limit how much of a source can be displayed on the web. Your primary sources could be written, artifacts, cartoons, maps, motion pictures, photographs, posters, sound recordings etc.
You will prepare your exam in essay format with an intro, body and conclusion. The paper will be 7 pages. Your essay will start with “If it pleases the court, I am arguing that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to what can be defined as genocide.” You are required to answer ALL ten questions below.
1) In making the case that genocide is occuring in Ukraine what are the origins for this development? If so, how and why did it begin? why is this important in setting up an argument for the case of genocide? Name one or more of the horsemen of genocide for Ukraine.
2) How does the Russian invasion and involvement in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Crimea and Syria help make the case for genocide in Ukraine regarding a precedent of mass murder/atrocities?
3) Who are the agents and victims and what are the goals of the agents in Ukraine?
4) What specific examples in Ukraine can be considered genocide? Explain your reasoning based on the evidence.
5) What specific examples of “cides” or mass murder or destruction that do not appear in the UN Convention exist today in Ukraine?
6) Regarding Jone’s chapter on psychological perspectives and genocide and leaders and states how does narcissism, fear, greed, humiliation help explain/inform President Putin’s policies and justification for invading Ukraine? In other words, how has narcissism, fear, greed and humiliation played a part in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine?
7) What specific examples in the Russian invasion of Ukraine show gendercide?
8) According to Jones denial is the final stage of genocide. Is this the case with the Holodomor in Canada and Jones’ discussion in chapter 14 regarding Memory, Forgetting and Denial?
9) Presiden Biden call Putin a war criminal and called the events in Ukraine “genocide.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/13/biden-russia-genocide-ukraine/ As Terrence De Pres said: “”What can justice mean when genocide is the issue?” In other words, using chapter 15 in Jones’ textbook as a guide what does justice mean and look like when the crime is genocide? Are sanctions a means to justice? Arresting and trying President Putin at the Hague like Slobodan Milošević for the crimes of genocide? Crimes against humanity?
10) Americans today are understandably experiencing among many things interventionist fatigue particularly in the wake of the military withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq. In engaging with Jones’ chapter 16 do you believe a military invasion of another country is ever justified for, say, stopping genocide?
Remember: for each question you must cite evidence from primary and secondary sources which also includes but not limited to the Adam Jones textbook. (Pro-tip: Jones has excellent bibliographies and endnotes at the end of each chapter which you can consult to expand and elaborate in answering the questions. That’s what bibliographies and references are for). Remember: your cited sources cannot be Wikipedia or a Google search or some obscure website. You are also required to include at least a one-page bibliography page containing all the both primary and secondary sources you consulted AND cited in your paper.
I expect all essay papers to be typed (size 12 point font) with 1 inch margins and double-
spaced lines and uploaded to Blackboard. Check this very carefully. Please use double-spacing in your paper. Every page should have a corresponding page number.