Dirk Moses
@dirkmoses.bsky.social
3.3K followers 470 following 270 posts
Teaches at the City College of New York, edits the Journal of Genocide Research. www.dirkmoses.com
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Reposted by Dirk Moses
freddydeknatel.bsky.social
A reminder not only of the flaws in international law, but of how its treaties and conventions are all a product of their time, in this case the postwar era.

Is the Genocide Convention actually working just as its drafters intended, privileging state sovereignty in armed conflict above all else?
“Mass state violence against civilians is not a glitch in the international system; it is baked into statehood itself,” Moses has written, explaining how international law effectively shields states that can assert the military goal of self-defense when accused of committing grave war crimes, even genocide. Moses’ study of the history and origins of the Genocide Convention is a reminder of the flaws in international law. It is selectively or rarely enforced, leaving the decision of whether to adhere to it up to states themselves.

What is more, the treaties and conventions that make up international law are all a product of their time, in this case the immediate postwar era. When the Genocide Convention was being drafted in the aftermath of World War II, under the shadow of the Holocaust and at the dawn of the Cold War and decolonization struggles, the state parties to the treaty, according to Moses, “distinguished genocidal intent from military necessity, so that states could wage the kind of wars that Russia and Israel are conducting today and avoid prosecution for genocide.”
Reposted by Dirk Moses
dirkmoses.bsky.social
Open rank position in politics at the City College of New York. cuny.jobs/new-york-ny/...
Reposted by Dirk Moses
journalgenocide.bsky.social
"Kwibuka and its Silencing of Trauma: How Reconciliation Initiatives Became Narratives of Violence" by Claudine Kuradusenge-McLeod tinyurl.com/3e426bre
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Reposted by Dirk Moses
journalgenocide.bsky.social
"The Ovaherero and Nama People’s Struggle for Restorative Justice: An Activist-Scholar Lens" by Kaya Alice de Wolff and Jephta U. Nguherimo tinyurl.com/mwr4ksru
Reposted by Dirk Moses
Reposted by Dirk Moses
freddydeknatel.bsky.social
I'm writing a new monthly column in @wpr.bsky.social. My first piece is on the flaws in international law on genocide and the gap in the Genocide Convention between genocidal intent and "military necessity," drawing on the indispensable work of @dirkmoses.bsky.social

Gift link:
Gaza, Genocide and the Limitations of International Law
The Genocide Convention that Israel has been accused of violating may contain a critical loophole when it comes to military action.
www.worldpoliticsreview.com
Reposted by Dirk Moses
joneshowdareyou.bsky.social
“Dirk Moses, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Genocide Research, said portions of the field of research are “in crisis” if experts don’t “combat the artificial distinction between [genocide] and military targets” and continue to defend Israel’s actions.”
johnmenadue.com/post/2025/05...
Even once reluctant scholars now agree on Israel's Gaza assault: It's a genocide
Can I name someone whose work I respect who doesn't consider it genocide? said one researcher. No.
johnmenadue.com
dirkmoses.bsky.social
I discuss the genocide concept in my bad German here. Recorded in one take so I could not clean it up. FWIW www.deutschlandfunk.de/genozid-in-g...
Reposted by Dirk Moses
juergenzimmerer.bsky.social
Bereits vor einigen Tagen erschienen, scheint es mir aktueller denn je; als Beitrag zur Debatte in & über Deutschland.
Freue mich sehr, in so guter Gesellschaft zu sein.
H. Kundnani, @adamtooze.bsky.social @dirkmoses.bsky.social @hahauenstein.bsky.social @marwecki.bsky.social, E. Özyürek, N. Samour
dirkmoses.bsky.social
‚we suggest that the qualification as genocide expresses a profound loss & longing for justice that is not only…insufficiently captured by individual human rights, crimes v humanity, or war crimes. We use the term “the common” as a concept to denote this loss.‘ voelkerrechtsblog.org/whats-in-a-n...
Reposted by Dirk Moses
sefyfe.bsky.social
Excellent explainer on the role of intent in assessing genocide claims:
Reposted by Dirk Moses
Reposted by Dirk Moses
journalgenocide.bsky.social
Call for Papers: Special Issue on Starvation in Contexts of Mass Violence and Genocide. Please see the attached notice for full details.
Reposted by Dirk Moses
sebbachelet.bsky.social
"the destruction of Gaza – its people and all that sustains it – is not an unintended outcome of an armed conflict but is knowingly and deliberately performed as part of an armed conflict" - Dirk Moses Introduction: Gaza and the Problems of Genocide Studies www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com