Drawing on thirty years of research, in this book Alette Smeulers explores the perpetrators of mass atrocities such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and terrorism.

The 9/11 attacks, as well as the ones in Madrid, London, Paris and Brussels; the genocides in Nazi Germany, Rwanda and Cambodia; the torture in dictatorial regimes; the wars in former Yugoslavia, Syria and Iraq and currently in Ukraine; the sexual violence during periods of conflict, all make us wonder: why would anyone do something like that? Who are these people? Drawing on 30 years of research, in this book Alette Smeulers explores the perpetrators of mass atrocities such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and terrorism. Examining questions of why people kill and torture and how mass atrocities can be explained, Smeulers presents a typology of perpetrators, with different ranks, roles and motives.

Devoting one chapter to each type of perpetrator, the book combines insights from academic research with illustrative case studies of well-known perpetrators, from dictators to middlemen, to lower ranking officials and terrorists. Their stories are explored in depth as the book examines their behaviour and motivation. Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities thus provides a comprehensive understanding of the causes of extreme mass violence. Such knowledge not only can help the international criminal justice system to be able to attribute blame in a fairer way but can also assist in preventing such atrocities being committed on the current scale.

Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities is essential reading for all those interested in war crimes, genocide, terrorism and mass violence

Autorentext

Alette Smeulers is a professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Her research, which takes an inter- and multidisciplinary approach, focuses on the causes and perpetrators of international crimes and terrorism, as well as the international criminal justice systems dealing with these crimes. She has published extensively on these subjects within a wide variety of journals and given numerous presentations at international conferences all over the world. She can be considered one of the founders of supranational criminology, the criminology of international crimes, and she is a passionate lecturer. For more information, see her personal webpage: https:// alettesmeulers .org/.

Inhalt

Introduction 1.The Criminal Mastermind 2.The Fanatic 3.The Careerist 4.The Devoted Warrior 5.The Professional 6.The True Believer 7.The Holy Warrior 8.The Avenger 9.The Profiteer 10.The Criminal 11.The Predator 12.The Deranged 13.The Follower 14.The Compromised Conclusion