Zachary A. Karazsia

Dr. Karazsia’s research addresses why and how vulnerable populations undergo socio-political marginalization and violence. He uses a range of primary and secondary sources and social scientific literature to show how specific state-society conditions enable perpetrators to ostracize, dehumanize, and murder so-called “asocial” groups en masse. His primary regional interest is Sub-Saharan Africa, mainly Central and East Africa.

Areas of Concentration

• Holocaust and Genocide Studies
• Comparative Politics
• International Relations

Selected Appointments

• Inaugural Fellow, MIT's 2024 Wargaming Lab Summer Institute 
• Founding Chair, VSU's Working Group on Conflict and Security
• Fellow, APSA Africa Workshop on Conflict and Political Violence, Nairobi, Kenya

Selected Publications

• Genocide in the Modern Age: State-Society Relations in the Making of Mass Political Violence. London and New York: Routledge Studies in Genocide and Crimes against Humanity Series, forthcoming. 
• "A Review of 'High Stakes Diplomacy': Fostering Effective Negotiation Skills through Experiential Learning." Questions in Politics Vol. X (2023): 1-8.
• “A Long Way to Peace: Identities, Genocide, and State Preservation in Burma, 1948-2018” (with Adam Howe), Politics, Groups, and Identities, 2018.
• “An Unfulfilled Promise: The Genocide Convention and the Obligation of Prevention,” Journal of Strategic Security Vol. 11, No. 4 (2018): pp. 20-31
• “Evaluating the “Success” of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration Programs: The Case of Congo-Brazzaville,” Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science, Vol. 1, Iss. 2 (2015), pp. 1-32.
• “Developing Hearts and Land: A Case Study of Reconciliation, Governance, and Development in Rwanda” in Sustainable Development and Human Security in Africa: Governance as the Missing Link, Louis A. Picard, Terry F. Buss, Taylor Seybolt, and Macrina Lelei, eds., Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group (2015), pp. 233-248.
• “The Truman Administration’s Foreign Aid Legacy: From the Cold War to the War on Terrorism” (with Louis A. Picard), in The Foreign Aid Legacy of Harry S. Truman, eds., Michael Divine and Ray Geselbracht, Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, The Truman Legacy Series Vol. 10 (2015), pp. 11-32.