International justice has become a crucial part of the ongoing political
debates about the future of shattered societies like Bosnia, Kosovo,
Rwanda, Cambodia, and Chile. Why do our governments sometimes display
such striking idealism in the face of war crimes and atrocities abroad,
and at other times cynically abandon the pursuit of international
justice altogether? Why today does justice seem so slow to come for war
crimes victims in the Balkans? In this book, Gary Bass offers an
unprecedented look at the politics behind international war crimes
tribunals, combining analysis with investigative reporting and a broad
historical perspective. The Nuremberg trials powerfully demonstrated how
effective war crimes tribunals can be. But there have been many other
important tribunals that have not been as successful, and which have
been largely left out of today's debates about international justice.
This timely book brings them in, using primary documents to examine the
aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, the Armenian genocide,
World War II, and the recent wars in the former Yugoslavia.
Bass explains that bringing war criminals to justice can be a military
ordeal, a source of endless legal frustration, as well as a diplomatic
nightmare. The book takes readers behind the scenes to see vividly how
leaders like David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt,
and Bill Clinton have wrestled with these agonizing moral dilemmas. The
book asks how law and international politics interact, and how power can
be made to serve the cause of justice.
Bass brings new archival research to bear on such events as the
prosecution of the Armenian genocide, presenting surprising episodes
that add to the historical record. His sections on the former Yugoslavia
tell--with important new discoveries--the secret story of the
politicking behind the prosecution of war crimes in Bosnia, drawing on
interviews with senior White House officials, key diplomats, and chief
prosecutors at the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Bass
concludes that despite the obstacles, legalistic justice for war
criminals is nonetheless worth pursuing. His arguments will interest
anyone concerned about human rights and the pursuit of idealism in
international politics.
