America’s double game with international justice: When power poses as principle

The US likes to cloak itself in moral terms. It likes to envelop its policies with the trappings of “human rights,” “democracy,” and “a rules-based international order.” However, the disconnect between what America preaches around the globe and what America practices has become so wide that it cannot be obscured by statements at the podium or patriotic fiction. “From ignoring ICJ rulings to vetoing UN resolutions, Washington bends global justice to its will,” said Agnes Callamard of Amnesty International. In November 2024, when the International Criminal Court upheld arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, Washington did not applaud global accountability. The US did not hail the arrival of the law. They punished the judges. They punished the court. They labeled justice […]