If International Law Only Applies to the Weak, What Is It Really Worth?

Reuters reported that the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Friday, hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize. Washington argues the court has overstepped its authority; the court says the sanctions undermine the rule of law.

I don't think you have to belong to a political party to see the basic problem here. If international courts are supposed to hold powerful actors accountable, what happens when powerful governments can make their work financially impossible?

There are legitimate debates about jurisdiction, national sovereignty and how judges are selected. Those arguments deserve to be heard. But the answer can't simply be that accountability is important when it applies to an enemy and unacceptable when it reaches an ally.

For 6ixtv, this isn't a Democrat-versus-Republican story. It's a question about consistent standards. Either rules mean something when they're inconvenient or we're just calling power politics international law.