Since World War II, the United States has provided material and political support to numerous governments that have committed atrocities, including genocide. Examples include U.S. backing of Indonesia (1965–1966; 1975–1999), Pakistan (1971), Guatemala (1981–1983), Iraq (1987–1988), the Saudi-led coalition (2015–present), and Israel (2023–present), along with various Latin American military dictatorships. While much responsibility lies with the direct perpetrators, the United States has often played a crucial enabling role, offering political cover, military aid, and diplomatic protection. Yet, scholarship rarely subjects the U.S. itself to close scrutiny.

A new article in the Journal of Genocide Studies by SIS professor Jeff Bachman and SIS PhD student Esther Brito Ruiz changes this by examining how the U.S. contributes to (and distances itself from) the atrocities of others, and how genocide studies as a field shields the U.S. from accountability. 

By omitting the role of the U.S., the “Samantha Power Effect” has endured largely unchallenged. Power’s A Problem from Hell is celebrated for criticizing U.S. inaction on genocide but ultimately reinforces the idea that U.S. leadership must “do more,” rather than acknowledging that the United States has repeatedly facilitated genocide. Her book sidesteps major cases involving U.S. complicity, such as Indonesia, East Pakistan, and Guatemala, thereby perpetuating American moral exceptionalism.

As a result, U.S. impunity for its role in others’ atrocities persists. Bachman and Brito Ruiz's analysis examines four cases—East Timor, Guatemala, Yemen, and Palestine—showing how U.S. officials employ rhetoric to distance themselves from violence committed by allies, maintaining a façade of innocence. They further argue that Genocide Studies has largely excluded the U.S. role in such crimes, a gap that sustains impunity and weakens the field’s moral and analytical integrity.

Read the full article here.