Evgeny Finkel | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Other names | Eugene Finkel |
| Education | |
| Occupation(s) | Political scientist, historian |
Evgeny Finkel orEugene Finkel is a political scientist and historian atJohns Hopkins University who studiespolitical violence,genocide,East European andIsraeli politics, andHolocaust studies.[1] In April 2022, Finkel claimed that after the initial phase of the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was resisted by Ukrainian armed forces, the aims of the invasion evolved, and the combined evidence of widespreadwar crimes, including theBucha massacre, together withgenocidal intent, as illustrated by the essayWhat Russia should do with Ukraine published inRIA Novosti, established thatgenocide was taking place.[2][3]
Evgeny Finkel was born inLviv. Finkel and his family moved toIsrael when he was 13 years old.[2] He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations fromHebrew University of Jerusalem and a PhD in political science fromUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison.[4]
As of 2018[update], Finkel's research fields includedpolitical violence,genocide,East European andIsraeli politics, andHolocaust studies.[1]
In comments on theSyrian civil war in April 2018, Finkel stated that even though Israel was opposed to the government ofBashar al-Assad, which was supported byRussia, Israel and Russia had common interests in opposition toIslamic State (ISIS/ISIL) andal-Qaeda, and in preventing the war from extending beyond the borders of Syria. According to Finkel, the Israeli and Russian militaries coordinated closely in order to prevent direct conflict between their forces and to prevent a major escalation of the war.[5]
In early April 2022, following theBucha massacre of the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finkel argued that the initial intent of the invasion was unlikely to have been genocide, but that the "combination of [the] violence, widespread and deliberate, and the rhetoric" showed that the intent and actions had evolved intogenocide.[2] Finkel stated that he had often criticised governments for misusing the term "genocide". In the case of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he stated that the massacres demonstrated "a campaign intended to destroy Ukrainians as a national group, if not in whole, then certainly 'in part'". He argued that evidence of a switch togenocidal intent was "abundant", and that the 3 April essay,What Russia should do with Ukraine published byRIA Novosti was one of the best examples, similar to earlier statements by Russian presidentVladimir Putin, and "outlin[ing] a clear plan to destroy Ukrainians and Ukraine itself". Finkel stated that the publication of the article in a major state controlled news medium was necessarily approved "from above".[3]
Genocide scholarRaz Segal and law scholar Luigi Daniele agreed that Finkel "reasonably concluded" that "the threshold from war crimes to genocide" was almost certainly crossed in Ukraine. Additionally, they argued that "applying the same standard indicated by Finkel" would lead to the conclusion that Israel was already carrying outgenocide against Palestinians before theGaza war in 2023, because of similar denials of a people's existence, right to self-determination, and collective civilian protection.[6] Finkel said that Western support for Israel enabled Putin to portray their support for Ukraine as self-interested rather than a principled stand in favor of international law.[7]