Governance, Order, and the International Criminal Court Between Realpolitik and a Cosmopolitan Court

How has the International Criminal Court (ICC) been able to evolve into a fairly effective, albeit relatively untested multi-level model of global governance? This volume explores this question and the novel predicament it represents for understanding the challenges of extending globalgovernance and promoting global justice. It focuses on the novel dynamics and design of the ICC and the role played by realpolitik factors such as the UN Security veto and intra-state competition in shaping and testing the cosmopolitan dimensions of the Court. To study these focal points and tounderstand the political challenges shaping the policies of the ICC, the book adopts a synergistic model based on four levels of responsibility, ranging from the state's negative responsibility not to harm its own citizens to the positive, open-ended global responsibility of the ICC Prosecutor. Themodel offers the basis of the book's cutting-edge, innovative approach, a "cosmopolitan political realism" , which encompasses and interweaves four International Relations theoretical perspectives: rationalism, constructivism, communicative action theory, and cosmopolitanism. Guiding this model isthe metaphor of the switch levers of train tracks, in which the Prosecutor and Judges serve as the agents switching (and criss-crossing) the tracks of realpolitik and cosmopolitanism. With this visual aid, the volume shows just how the ICC has become one of the most intriguing points of intersectionbetween law, politics, and ethics.

Dr. Steven Roach is Assistant Professor in the Department of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida. His research interests focus on the intersection of international law and politics, critical theory, and global governance. He is the author of Critical Theory of International Politics (forthcoming 2009), Politicizing the International Criminal Court: The Convergence of Politics, Ethics, and Law (2006), Cultural Autonomy, Minority Rights and Globalization (2005), co-author of International Relations: The Key Concepts (2008), and is editor of Critical Theory and International Relations: A Reader (2008).He has published numerous articles on law and politics and is currently working on a book project that focuses on the evolution of the human rights regime.