The ICC and World Superpowers

  The New York Times debate over the need for the International Criminal Court is very relevant when considering the blatant war crimes that Putin is currently committing in Ukraine.  The debate is centered around how there are multiple issues with the ICC that need to be addressed and the ICC often falls short of being able to fully do their job.  The issues that were brought up were the lack of due process, the need for more local enforcement, and the legal vacuum.  What the debate does not address is how nations, such as Russia, China and the United States, are not members of the ICC.  Trying to fix the issues of enforcement are difficult to do when the world superpowers are not held to the same standards as the rest of the world.  Russia is clearly committing war crimes in the Ukraine right now and the United States has a history of committing war crimes around the world.  Besides the lack of ability to prosecute nations, such as Russia and the United States, it also creates a system that is supposed to enforce rules around the world without the participation of the nations that have the most global reach.  The debaters somewhat get to this issue when addressing  how the majority of people that are prosecuted by the ICC are from less wealthy, African countries.  Ted Galen Carpenter argues that the United States does not participate in the ICC because they are wary of the ability of the ICC to do their job.  There is good reason to believe that the reason that the United States, China, and Russia are not in the ICC is not because they question the ability of the ICC to do their job, but rather that nations that are superpowers do not want to give away power to any other outside body that could punish them.   It is hard to imagine that the United States, who consider themselves the enforcer of peace and democracy around the world, would allow another body to have any power over them  and hold them accountable for the crimes they commit.  Putin has recently shown that he does not care what the rest of the world thinks and will do whatever he feels necessary to fulfill his goals.   Despite these barriers, the solution to fixing the ICC is to enforce the rules not only on nations that are not superpowers, but also on the superpowers that commit war crimes and crimes against humanity without repercussions from the international community.  One reason that this may never be possible is that the ICC does not have military capabilities which puts them in a situation that makes enforcing rules over superpowers extremely difficult, if not impossible.  Despite this, if the ICC ever wants to be able to properly enforce laws that prohibit war crimes and other crimes against humanity, they are going to need to find a way to get the United States,  Russia, and China to join the ICC.    


Comments

  1. Kyle LionettiMarch 28, 2022 at 10:09 AM

    The situation in the ICC and their lack of enforceability reminds me somewhat of the failure of the League of Nations. Obviously the two different organizations had different tasks in what they were trying to accomplish, however the flaws in both of somewhat similar. For example, the lack of the superpowers in the ICC is similar to how countries like the United States did not join the League of Nations. If there is to be a governing body over the world, it is important that every country in the world is part of it for it to function properly. Furthermore, the lack of military capabilities is something the League of Nations struggled with when it was formed. I agree with the argument in this piece, because of the world powers do not join the ICC, then it will continue to be a somewhat useless organization in world politics.

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  2. Madison McCormackMarch 28, 2022 at 10:21 AM

    After reading your blog, I enjoyed how you stated your argument early in your writing, but also how you point out a crucial area of the debate that is not addressed: the absence of Russia, the U.S., and China from the ICC. Notably, Russia's absence from the ICC could help explain why the war between Russia and Ukraine is ongoing, which is a possibility I hadn't considered prior to reading your blog. Considering they may not want to join the ICC because they could possibly lose their power is an entirely plausible idea, which I think lends itself to your argument as well. This is to say that I agree with your points that you make within your blog, and the only way to strengthen it would be to include some cited quotes from a scholarly article either from class or one that you found on your own. Including those in your blogs could heavily improve your writing and your arguments, and simply just make your blog seem more credible. But overall, I enjoyed reading your blog and I think you explain your reasonings well.

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