U.S. War Crimes and Accountability with the International Criminal Court: A Critique

Author(s)

Johanna M. LefflerFollow

Major

Political Science

Second Major

French

Minor(s)

Political Science

Advisor

Johnson, Kristin

Advisor Department

Political Science

Date

12-2020

Keywords

International Criminal Court; War Crimes; United States

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Abstract

JOHANNA LEFFLER (International Studies, French)

U.S. War Crimes and Accountability with the International Criminal Court: A Critique

Sponsor: Kristin Johnson (Political Science)

Throughout my undergraduate career I have studied a variety of subjects within international affairs. The fall of my 2019-2020 year while studying abroad at The Institute for Political Studies of Rennes, France, was where I studied a particularly thought-provoking subject, Mondialisation et Droit de l’Homme (Globalization and Human Rights). We studied the evolution of international law, the justice institutions which uphold it, and how modern globalization impacts human rights. The subject matter and discussion with my international classmates prompted me to reflect upon international criminal accountability, or the global lack thereof, inspiring the topic of this research-based analysis. Throughout my research for this final project I have identified five war crimes committed by the United States military throughout the 20th and into the 21stcentury. In my final paper I will analyze the timeline of events for each war crime, under which these crimes occurred, the application of international law and treaties, and outline the consequences or disciplinary actions, if any, taken to serve justice. This project is a product of my own intellectual curiosity. I hope to bring to light the precedents in international law and human rights which the United States has had a large role in setting, yet continuously fails to hold itself accountable to such standards.