Genocide, Empire and Humanitarian Law

Lets talk empire, not as a Russian or an American thing, or for that matter a Roman thing. Lets talk empire as a mythic space, because let me be transparent on this, all empires have that characteristic. They all exist in the area of myth and in the modern period of nation.

Empires are an expression of will and power. Whether it was Assyria in the ancient world, sending horse drawn carriages with driver, and archer, and mass infantry, or its the modern tank with infantry and aircraft, both are a raw expression of power. Resistance to the empire is at times futile and can lead to genocide.

Now, this is a new concept, and a product of the 20th century. It was first used to describe the Holodomor, and later it became the basis for the charges of genocide at Nuremberg. Genocide is the purposeful elimination of a people. Usually these are peoples who have openly resisted conquest by an invading power. We have descriptions of this going back to the dawn of history, whether in Biblical texts, Sumerian texts, Roman texts, or even medieval texts.

The killing of all men, women and children we see in the story of Exodus is a description of genocide. So is the razing to the ground of many a nation that resisted the power of Rome. Or for that matter the razing of many a medieval town, and the purposeful killing of populations that resisted…