International Law in a World of States: The Politics of the International Criminal Court

The Moynihan Institute’s newest series, Law in World Affairs, with the Maxwell African Scholars Union and the Political Science Department presents Oumar Ba from Cornell University.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) celebrated this year its 25^th anniversary. At its creation, the Court was supposed to usher in an era of personal accountability for atrocity crimes, namely, genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Yet, the international legal system is still failing at deterring would-be perpetrators of atrocity crimes and delivering justice to victims of such crimes. This talk explores the political dimensions of the international legal system, while paying special attention to the hierarchical nature of international law and the legacy of colonialism.

This event is open to Syracuse University faculty, students and staff. 

Please use your syr.edu email when registering. 

Oumar Ba is an assistant professor in the Department of Government at Cornell. His primary areas of research focus on law, violence, race, humanity and world order(s) in global politics. He is the author of “States of Justice: The Politics of the International Criminal Court” (Cambridge, 2020). His writings have appeared in Global Studies Quarterly, Human Rights Quarterly, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, PS: Political Science & Politics, Journal of Narrative Politics, African Studies Review, Africa Today, Foreign Affairs, The New York Review of Books, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, among others.