Genocide: Emergence of Evil in the Absence of Justice: Being Human: Political Modernity and Hospitality in Kurdistan-Iraq, by Fazil Moradi, New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University Press, 2024, 210 pp., US$150 (hardcover), ISBN 9781978831704

Humanity is tested time and again. Humans experience deep emotions: jealousy, fear, love, anger and guilt. These emotions can drive us toward compassion, or they can drive us to hurt others, lash out or shut down. Being human means constantly walking a fine line between good and evil. It is emotionally, mentally, and morally challenging, because we are always balancing selfish and destructive impulses against a deeper sense of empathy, love and justice. Life rarely offers clear-cut choices. What is “right” is often unclear, inconvenient, or painful. What feels “right” for one person can be totally “wrong” for another – or for humanity. Temptation and selfish desires often present an easier path than morality does. We live within hierarchical social, political and economic systems that tend to reward selfishness, power, and greed more often than empathy or honesty. These systems can pull people away from their humanity and into more harmful patterns of behaviour.