What monsters like General Mladić can teach us about human conflict

Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb general, was found guilty of genocide and war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on 22 November. George Kassimeris argues that as long as there is war and human conflict, there will always be people willing to commit atrocities in exchange for power and privilege. But if we want to get closer to the truth of why these atrocities happen, it is more necessary than ever to try to understand what drives people like Mladić.