2 - US Support for International Justice
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2025
Summary
Chapter 2 addresses the simplest potential explanation for America’s hostility to the ICC: The US might oppose international justice in general. I show that is not the case. The US has been an ardent supporter of international justice institutions both before and after the ICC’s creation. In the period immediately following World War II, the US played an indispensable role in creating the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals that prosecuted political and military elites in Germany and Japan. After the end of the Cold War, the US once again led the way in establishing tribunals to address genocides in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Even after the ICC’s creation, American support for international justice has remained steadfast. The US has aided several new venues of international justice, devoted significant resources to tracking down wanted war criminals, and elevated international justice issues in its diplomacy. This chapter’s key lesson is that there is something about the ICC – and the ICC alone – that piques the ire of American politicians and policymakers.
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- Above the LawThe United States and the International Criminal Court, pp. 27 - 84Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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