War Crimes in a New Era: Regulating Conflict Post-Cold War and -9/11

For most of its 53 years of existence, the Geneva Convention of 1949, the treaty regulating conflict between and within states, has been largely ignored. But it took on new life in the decade after the Cold War ended, following massive atrocities in Bosnia and in Rwanda. The establishment of UN tribunals to prosecute violations breathed new life into humanitarian law and led to a movement to establish an international criminal court. The events of 9/11 and the Bush administration's decisions to reinterpret the Geneva Conventions unilaterally as applies to prisoners of war raises questions about the future of humanitarian law. Can an international law still govern modern warfare? Through what legal mechanisms should these laws be enforced? Please join us as Roy Gutman investigates these and many other compelling questions.

Participants

• Roy Gutman
  President, Crimes of War Project
  Washington, DC Correspondent, Newsweek

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