The Justice Cascade

The Justice Cascade is a new book by Kathryn Sikkink of the University of Minnesota that is full of important insights into the role and effectiveness of international criminal justice. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy from her when I visited Minneapolis earlier in the year. It is based on a great deal of empirical research. Conclusions about the political impact of prosecutions are drawn. There is a fine review of it by Professor David Scheffer in the latest issue of the New Republic. We're all waiting for David's new book, All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals, which is due out in December. It charts the role of international justice in United States policy during the 1990s, when David was the first Ambassador at large for war crimes issues.