Bibiana Schindler (U): Hegemony over Human Rights: The Politics of U.S. Genocide Recognition in the al-Anfal Campaign

The United States is often perceived as the moral authority of the world, defending human rights and supporting fundamental American values abroad through its foreign policy. However, despite this elevated status in the political arena, the United States often distances itself from issues pertaining to human rights such as genocide, taking decades to sign the United Nations Genocide Declaration and consistently failing to recognize crimes against humanity and genocides as they occur. The rationale behind this moral failure can be understood through the lens of the 1980s Kurdish genocide in Iraq known as the al-Anfal Campaign. The United States provided Iraq with supplies and support during the Iran-Iraq War, failing to fully acknowledge Iraq's crimes until after their relationship deteriorated in the early 1990s. The United States' awareness and evaluation of Iraq's bombing campaigns can be analyzed through numerous recently declassified documents. The findings of this research suggest that the United States weighs its interests against its values in its foreign policy decisions. It appears that the U.S. often chooses its strategic interests over its moral obligations, using genocide recognition as a political tool to maintain its hegemony.