Why Not Kill them all?

In Chirot and McCauley’s book Why Not Kill Them All? the authors cover specific cases of genocide, in addition to providing an unbiased and unemotional approach to the explanations of their causes and effects. From their research, the authors conclude that genocides will continue to arise of any amplitude and unfortunately no reasons for triggering these mass killings seem to be vanishing with any certainty or timeliness. Although many suggestions have been proposed and are continuously arising to help prevent genocides, the authors do not believe any of them hold significant promise in providing a solution. In fact Chirot and McCauley claim that today’s modern world actually appears to be on the verge of more large scale massacres and suggest them to potentially be religion based. In today’s scenario, many of the modernized societies of the world no longer are as susceptible to genocide due to a larger acceptance of the diverse cultures people have. However, in some places where cultures, religions, or ideologies are seen more as right or wrong, these mass killings still hold potential until views are either accepted or the issues are depleted through agreements. Chirot and McCauley make many substantial claims in regards to why the future is poised for more genocides, and also suggest ways of limiting such mass killings. Nevertheless, the authors make some broad claims that simply are not parallel to the realities of societies today, and are not truly applicable to our world. Chirot and McCauley’s claim that exogamy and intermarriage can limit the deadliness of warfare and hold a ceiling as to the scale of massacres no longer applies to today’s societies and would not have nearly the impact they propose. They use examples of the Australian Aborigines who would send intermarry with neighboring tribes to increase alliances, and of Tamerlane’s promotion of intermarriage with enemy tribes to illustrate how it can diffuse the level of atrocity between groups. They