Outside of a Small Circle of Friends: States, Genocide, Mass Killing and The Role of Bystanders

The paper begins with a brief discussion of the conditions under which genocide and other instances of mass killing occur and discusses recent levels of reporting of such instances. The core of the paper is an examination of the circumstances and structural conditions which have allowed these crimes against humanity to go relatively undernoticed and unchallenged. Three interrelated questions concerning the assumptions which are built into the current state system and the state as an institution guide the analysis of how states have arrived at a position in which mass killing by states and their agents is somehow 'accepted' and whereby there is little expectation that other states in the system will intervene on behalf of those in danger. To explore the lack of response further, the literature of 'bystander apathy' is introduced and the classic formulation of Latane & Darley 1969 is employed to structure an exammation of bystander non-involvement in the international system of states. Eleven confounding factors present in the international system are suggested. The paper concludes with some suggestions for moving beyond non-involvement to move beyond the 'small circle of friends' who need to become involved if future mass killings are to be prevented.