RETHINKING SREBRENICA

A painstakingly meticulous, unconventional analysis of the purported 1995 genocide that took place in Srebrenica.

Originally published under the title Deconstruction of a Virtual Genocide (2013), this impressively rigorous reconsideration challenges the conventional wisdom regarding the devastation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The two authors—one a medical doctor who exhaustively assessed all the germane forensic evidence, the other a man who played a part as a defense attorney in the judicial aftermath of the Srebrenica incident—call for a more “holistic approach” to the event, one that considers the three days of killing within the context of three years of war. They also scour allegedly expert testimony and eyewitness accounts, impugning their credibility. The principal, and shocking, conclusion the authors draw is that genocide, in the strictest sense of the charge, never did occur, though they do concede that war crimes were committed, specifically numerous executions. “The attention and vast logistical resources invested in propping up this misleading narrative could have been more effectively used to conduct a proper investigation,” they write. In fact, the authors argue that the preceding three years had been riddled by war crimes, even “pogroms,” committed by Muslim combatants, systematically neglected and even covered up by global media, major governments and a slew of international institutions infected by bias. Further, they contend that such wholesale misrepresentation of the facts only stymies the possibility of future harmony between Orthodox and Muslim communities. Written in often dense prose characteristic of academic literature, this isn’t light fare, and its provocative claims are sure to stir the scholarly pot.

For those who enjoy a tireless, detailed account of controversial historical events, this is an excellent find.