Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- PART I Introduction
- PART II Explaining perpetrators: theoretical foundations
- PART III The theory applied
- PART IV Victim vulnerability: explaining magnitude and manner of dying
- 10 Raison d'état, raison d'église
- 11 Cynical realpolitik and the unwanted
- 12 High victimization: the role of realpolitik
- 13 Inequality and absence of identification
- 14 On the possibility of revolt and altruistic punishment
- PART V Exceptions
- PART VI Conclusion
- References
- Index
11 - Cynical realpolitik and the unwanted
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- PART I Introduction
- PART II Explaining perpetrators: theoretical foundations
- PART III The theory applied
- PART IV Victim vulnerability: explaining magnitude and manner of dying
- 10 Raison d'état, raison d'église
- 11 Cynical realpolitik and the unwanted
- 12 High victimization: the role of realpolitik
- 13 Inequality and absence of identification
- 14 On the possibility of revolt and altruistic punishment
- PART V Exceptions
- PART VI Conclusion
- References
- Index
Summary
Thus far in this part, their use of cynical realpolitik has identified permitting agents of the Holocaust and of the genocide of the Armenians and Tutsi that undoubtedly increased the magnitude of the killing. Yet policies dictated by cynical realpolitik go beyond this relatively small company of leaders and include even the enemies of Nazism who were ultimately, at great cost, to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II. The story of this chapter is the callous disregard of the Jewish plight in virtually all potential national sites of refuge and its likely impact on the genesis and, most importantly, the magnitude of the Holocaust. Here, the cynical version of realpolitik is played out on the world stage.
The United States and Great Britain were the principal actors in this drama, for they were the main destinations sought by the Jews as the Nazi persecution worsened. Other places of potential refuge such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were also implicated. As might be expected, the United States was the leading actor and, “During the Holocaust, Britain's policy – much of it made in conjunction with the United States government – continued to put self-interest first, leaving minimal scope for humanitarian action.” Self-interest dictated by considerations of realpolitik, punctuated by occasional short-lived bursts of humanitarianism, was to characterize the policies of both countries.
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- The Killing TrapGenocide in the Twentieth Century, pp. 237 - 249Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005