Trials and Errors: Principle and Pragmatism in Strategies of International Justice

Do international criminal tribunals prevent mass atrocities and other gross human rights abuses? According to Jack Snyder of ColumbiaUniversityand Leslie Vinjamuri of GeorgetownUniversity, recent tribunals such as those convened to prosecute war crimes in Yugoslaviaand Central Africa“have utterly failed to deter subsequent abuses.” In contrast, amnesties and truth commissions have succeeded largely because they solicit cooperation from powerful actors with vested interests in the outcome. Snyder and Vinjamuri maintain that preventing atrocities and strengthening respect for the law often require “striking politically expedient bargains that create effective coalitions to contain the power of potential perpetrators of abuses.” This pragmatic approach, the authors argue, is key to the establishment of a norm-governed political order and effective administrative institutions.