How did one of the bravest and most optimistic expressions of post Cold War global power - the provision of justice for those victimised by atrocious crimes - degenerate into a system in which so few are convinced that justice is being dispensed? This book comprehensively examines the complex world of international criminal justice in several hot spots including the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda. The author suggests ways to provide an effective justice system that entrusts the potentially destabilising work of crime war crimes justice to the very states affected by the crimes.
Adam M. Smith (Bethesda, MD) is an associate at a Washington, DC-based international law firm who has advised presidential candidates, held staff positions with the United Nations and the World Bank, and worked at US embassies in three countries, for the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and for the legal adviser to the State Department. He has published in magazines such as Forbes, American Prospect, and New Republic, and such prestigious journals as Harvard International Law Journal, Fletcher Forum, and Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs. He has been interviewed by NPR, Reuters, AP, CNN, and others and has a coauthored academic text forthcoming by Routledge.
From Budapest to Bondi to Bosnia : an unlikely war crimes journey; An odd, misguided debate : is it really international justice or no justice?; Left behind; The politics of hell : what happened?; Falling on deaf ears (part I) : international justice from the ground up; Falling on deaf ears (part II) : "unfair and unhelpful"; The International Criminal Court and the limits of international justice; They say it can't be done; Croatia : justice in the shadow of The Hague; Conclusion : is it too late to listen to the canary in the mine?; Index.
"Rooted in a personal hunger for justice and reconciliation, After Genocide makes an indispensible contribution to current debates about international justice, and international interventions more generally, by challenging the ideology that the international is by definition a better force for good than the national or local. Smith convincingly calls to account an international movement that holds others criminally responsible, but has thus far managed to shield itself behind judicial robes from political accountability for its own operations." -- Making Sense of Darfur blog, August 18, 2009
