Why Doesn't International Law Apply To The West?

Summary

The video script critiques the selective enforcement of international law, highlighting the United States and its allies' manipulation of institutions like the UN and ICC to evade accountability. It discusses the historical reinforcement of colonial and neocolonial dominance through international law, the disproportionate focus on African leaders by the ICC, and the lack of action against Western leaders. The script also addresses the political influence and veto power of the UN Security Council, which undermines the ICC's effectiveness and impartiality, perpetuating global inequality and encouraging further violations of international norms.

Takeaways

• 😔 International law is criticized for being weak and ineffective, partly due to manipulation by powerful nations like the United States and its allies.
• 🏛 The UN and the ICC are established to uphold global peace and justice, but their enforcement often shows a divide between their goals and reality.
• 🛡️ The US uses its political and economic influence to shield itself and its allies from international scrutiny and consequences, as seen with the ICC's arrest warrants against Israeli officials.
• 🌍 The origin and role of international law have historically reinforced colonial and neocolonial dominance, rather than promoting global justice.
• 📜 The selective application of international law and structural limitations of bodies like the UN and ICC make them tools of neocolonial rule rather than impartial arbiters of justice.
• 📊 The ICC has been criticized for focusing predominantly on African leaders while ignoring crimes by Western leaders or their allies, raising questions about its impartiality.
• 🛑 The US and its allies have used their power to block the ICC from pursuing justice in cases that involve them, such as the arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for war crimes.
• 💥 The US has been implicated in numerous war crimes, including in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, yet remains unaccountable on the global stage.
• 🚫 The ICC's reliance on state cooperation and the principle of complementarity limit its ability to enforce its warrants and conduct investigations, especially when powerful nations refuse to cooperate.
• 🔒 The UN Security Council's influence, particularly the veto power of its permanent members, undermines the ICC's effectiveness and ability to hold powerful nations accountable.
• 🌐 The manipulation of international politics by powerful nations, including economic and diplomatic pressure, ensures that international bodies cannot function impartially.

Q & A

Why has international law been criticized as weak and ineffective?

International law has been criticized for being weak and ineffective because it is often manipulated by powerful nations like the United States and its allies to evade accountability and further their own interests, as seen in the case of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants against Israeli officials being ignored and denounced by the US.

What is the primary mission of the United Nations (UN) as stated in its Charter?

The primary mission of the UN, as stated in its Charter, is to maintain international peace and security, promote human rights, and foster social and economic development.

When was the International Criminal Court (ICC) established, and what is its purpose?

The ICC was established in 2002 as the international court that prosecutes individuals for crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ International Law and Its Selective Enforcement

This paragraph discusses the perception of international law as weak due to its selective application, particularly by the United States and its allies. It highlights the manipulation of international institutions like the UN and the ICC for political interests, using the example of Israel ignoring ICC orders with US support. The paragraph sets the stage for an exploration of international law's origins, role, and its reinforcement of colonial and neocolonial dominance. It also mentions the sponsor Aura, emphasizing privacy protection in the digital age.

05:02

🔍 The Biases and Limitations of International Courts

The second paragraph delves into the establishment and purpose of the UN and ICC, highlighting their missions to maintain peace, promote human rights, and prosecute severe crimes. It criticizes the UN's and ICC's track records, pointing out the US's resistance to the ICC and its use of political and economic power to shield itself and allies from international consequences. The paragraph also underscores the selective enforcement of international law, focusing on African leaders while ignoring Western ones, and the political realities that shape the application of international law.

10:02

🌍 The Impact of Political Influence on International Justice

The final paragraph examines the structural limitations and political influence on the ICC, which lacks its own enforcement mechanisms and relies on state cooperation. It discusses the principle of complementarity and the Rome Statute's provisions that limit the ICC's reach. The paragraph also addresses the UN Security Council's influence, the use of veto power to shield nations from accountability, and the broader political manipulation that undermines the ICC's impartiality and effectiveness. It concludes by reflecting on the systemic failures of the current international law system, as evidenced by the inability to prosecute US and Israeli officials for war crimes.

Keywords

💡International Law

International law refers to the set of rules and standards governing the relationships between nations and international organizations. In the video, it is criticized for being weak and ineffective, particularly due to the manipulation by powerful states like the United States and its allies, which use international institutions to evade accountability and further their interests.

💡United Nations (UN)

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 with the primary mission of maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, and fostering social and economic development. The script highlights the UN's inconsistent enforcement of international law, especially when it comes to powerful nations and their allies.

💡International Criminal Court (ICC)

The International Criminal Court is a permanent international tribunal.

Highlights

International law is often criticized for being weak and ineffective due to manipulation by powerful nations like the United States and its allies.

The United States and allies use international institutions such as the UN and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to evade accountability and further their interests.

Israel ignored ICC arrest warrants and continued its attacks, with support from the US, showcasing the selective application of international law.

The UN and ICC were established to uphold global peace and justice, but their enforcement records reveal a divide between their goals and reality.

The US leverages its political and economic influence to shield itself and its allies from international scrutiny and consequences.

International law has historically reinforced colonial and neocolonial dominance, with legal frameworks used to legitimize control over territories.

The ICC, established in 2002, represents a significant step forward in the quest for global justice but has faced resistance from powerful nations, particularly the United States.

The American Servicemembers' Protection Act authorizes the use of military force to free any US personnel detained by the ICC.

The creation of the ICC was more about maintaining a world order dominated by Western powers than promoting global justice.

The ICC's selective enforcement of international law has been a hallmark of its operation, focusing predominantly on African leaders while ignoring Western leaders.

The principle of complementarity underpins the ICC's jurisdiction, allowing it to prosecute only when national courts are unwilling or unable to do so.

The US and its allies can refuse to cooperate with the ICC, which lacks its own enforcement mechanisms and relies on member states for arrests and evidence collection.

The UN Security Council's influence over the ICC limits the court's effectiveness and undermines its ability to function as an impartial judicial body.

Economic and diplomatic power are used by countries like the US to sway other nations and international bodies, often to dissuade support for actions that might hold the US or its allies accountable.

The selective enforcement of international law undermines the core principles of justice and equality that institutions like the UN and the ICC were founded upon.

The inability of the ICC to prosecute US and Israeli officials despite clear evidence of war crimes exemplifies the systemic failures in the current system of international law.

The promise of true justice will remain unfulfilled as long as the US and its allies continue to evade accountability.

Transcripts

[Music]

international law has been ridiculed

recently as being weak and ineffective

because it has been but why is that in

part it's because the United States and

its allies manipulate institutions like

the UN and the international criminal

court to evade accountability and

further their own interests when the I

issued arrest warrants against Israeli

officials and demanded the operation in

Rafa end immediately Israel ignored the

order intensified its attacks and Joe

Biden provided a swift denunciation of

the Court's orders providing all the

cover they needed this reaction is

indicative of a recurring theme The

Selective application of international

law while institutions like the UN and

the ICC were nominally established to

uphold Global Peace and Justice their

track records reveal a stark divide

between their lofty goals and the

reality of their enforcement the US

leverages its political and economic

clout to consistently Shield itself and

its allies from International scrutiny

and more importantly

[Music]

consequences in this episode we'll

explore the origin and role of

international law and demonstrate how

it's historically reinforced Colonial

and neocolonial dominants but before we

do I'd like to take a quick moment to

thank our Channel sponsor Aura as you

all know we make political content here

and on our other channels unfortunately

that means some people don't like us

very much

these days a quick Google search is all

it takes to find someone's personal

information data Brokers sell your

information to scammers spammers and

anyone else who may want to Target you

your full name email home address health

records your relatives it's all readily

available for those who want to find it

that's why I've been using Aura to help

keep my private details private Aura

shows me which data Brokers are selling

my information and automatically submits

opt out request for me this not only

cuts down on the amount of spam I get

but also helps keep all my accounts safe

from bad factors I'll give you a real

world example AT&T recently revealed

that over 73 million customer records

both existing and former customers were

released on the dark web they

recommended that those affected change

their passwords monitor account activity

and consider credit freezes or fraud

alerts from credit bureaus this was a

huge breach but I don't have to worry

Aura does all of this for me and best of

all I don't have to download a bunch of

different apps just because some company

couldn't keep my data secure I value my

privacy and I'm sure you value your

you can go to aura.com slfirst thought

to start your twoe free trial no strings

attached try it out and I promise you'll

appreciate the Peace of Mind support the

show and protect your valuable data by

signing up today at the link

below the United Nations and the

international criminal court claim to

exist for the cause of real Justice the

UN was founded in 1945 with the primary

mission of maintaining International

Peace and security promoting human

rights and fostering social and economic

development not doing great so far on

those fronts its Charter aimed to

prevent the kind of catastrophic

conflict that had devastated the world

twice in less than half a century or

what's happening now in Ukraine and

Palestine see what I mean about that

track record the ICC a product of the

Rome statute wasn't established until

2002 and is the first permanent

International Court capable of

Prosecuting individuals for genocide

crimes against humanity and war crimes

the Rome statute was adopted in 1998 and

by July 1st 2002 it had come into force

with the ratification of 60 countries

the ICC represented a significant step

forward in the global Quest For Justice

providing a permanent judicial body to

address the most egregious violations of

international law the adoption of the

Rome statute and establishment of the

ICC were met with resistance from

powerful Nations particularly the United

States the so-called American Service

members protection act of 202 also known

as the hag Invasion act authorizes the

use of military force to free any us

Personnel detained by the IC which

should show you how far the US is

willing to go to protect its war

criminals from accountability and as we

delve deeper into the history and roles

of these institutions it should become

clear that their creation was much more

about maintaining a world order

dominated by Western Powers than it was

about promoting Global Justice The

Selective application of international

law and the structural limitations of

these bodies have made them little more

than tools of neocolonial rule rather

than impartial Arbiters of Justice

during the colonial era Western powers

used legal Frameworks to legitimize

their control over vast territories in

Africa Asia and the Americas Concepts

such as tanelus or land belonging to no

one and the doctrine of Discovery were

employed to justify the appropriation of

lands and the subjugation of indigenous

populations these legal doctrines

allowed Colonial powers to establish and

maintain their Empires under the guise

of bringing civilization to uncivilized

parts of the world even after the end of

so-called former colonialism the legacy

of these legal principles has persisted

newly independent states were integrated

into an international system that had

been shaped by and for the benefit of

their former

colonizers unfortunately the ICC

provides a clear example of the

selective enforcement of international

law which has been a Hallmark of its

operation since its establishment it is

predominantly focused on African Leaders

with cases involving sudin president

Omar Al basher Kenyan Deputy President

William Ruto and Ugandan warlord Joseph

Cony among others and while yes these

prosecutions are important the glaring

absence of cases against Western leaders

or their allies raises questions about

the impartiality of the Court especially

given the extent and severity of the

crimes committed by Western regimes this

isn't a coincidence it reflects the

political realities that shape

international law and is exemplified by

a recent interaction between ICC

prosecutor Kareem Khan and a senior

elected leader leader where they said to

khote the international criminal court

is built for Africa and for thugs like

Putin clearly implying that there are

whole groups of countries that shouldn't

be subject to the scrutiny of the Court

speaking of Putin let's take a look at

what Joe Biden and other Western

officials said about the ICC issuing an

arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for

war crimes the truth of the matter is

saw what happened to bu this warrants

him he is a war criminal we have to

gather all the detail so this can be a

actual have a war crime trial in a

nutshell it's Justified can't get much

clearer than that in addition to Biden's

condemnation of the warrants against

Israeli officials members of his

administration and Congress have also

weighed in they want to sanction the ICC

you heard that right Republican Senators

have threatened severe sanctions against

the international criminal court if it

proceeds with legal action against

Israel Secretary of State Anthony

blinkin approves of this effort telling

Senator Lindsey Graham that he welcomed

the opportunity to work on a bipartisan

effort to sanction the ICC to quote

protect us interests these people aren't

even trying to hide it anymore and

because the US has its back Israel's

actions in Gaza and the West Bank will

continue to escape International legal

consequences despite overwhelming

evidence of genocide human rights abuses

and severe violations of international

law the Israeli genocide of Palestine is

the clearest example in modern history

just search the word Palestine on

Twitter or Telegram and you'll find

thousands of videos of children being

blown to Pieces hospitals and places of

worship being leveled and IDF soldiers

bragging about their war crimes the

West's actions to block the ICC from

pursuing Justice in this case while

advocating for Action when it benefits

them geopolitically has prompted the

question what good are these

institutions if the US and its lackeys

can flaunt International Law at

will examining specific cases like the

horrific us war crimes in Vietnam

provides further insight into this

selective application extensive

atrocities committed during the war

including the mili Massacre the

widespread use of defoliant and

operation Speedy Express are serious

despicable war crimes that have gone

completely unpunished despite being

extremely clear violations of

international law the myi massacre

perhaps the most infamous crime was the

wholesale Slaughter of over 500

Vietnamese civilians including women

children and the elderly by American

soldiers and this massacre was not an

isolated incident but part of a broader

pattern of systemic violence and

disregard for human life the US

military's use of defoliant like agent

orange caused long-term environmental

damage and severe health problems for

millions of Vietnamese the bombing

campaigns particularly Operation Rolling

Thunder resulted in massive civilian

casualties and destruction of

infrastructure operation Speedy Express

one of the deadliest single operations

of the war led to the deaths of at least

seven 7,000 civilians under the guise of

targeting North Vietnamese Fighters and

this impunity enjoyed by the US extends

beyond the Vietnam War into more recent

military actions the wars in Afghanistan

and Iraq have similarly been marked by

significant civilian casualties and war

crimes the use of drone strikes in

countries like Pakistan Yemen and

Somalia has resulted in scores of

Civilian deaths with little to no

transparency or accountability these

actions Justified under the vague Banner

of counterterrorism have drawn Fierce

criticism from international human

rights organizations and yet the US

remains completely unaccountable on the

global stage even more recently Israel's

actions in Gaza and the West Bank

provide another Stark example of the

unequal application of international law

since its Inception Israel has been

rightly accused of literally thousands

of human rights violations including the

disproportionate use of force against

civilians the destruction of Palestinian

homes and the blockade of Gaza which has

led to severe humanitarian crises of

course all these crimes are being

committed in service of a full-blown

genocide but each are crimes in their

own right despite these obvious and

flagrant violations of international law

and basic human decency Israel has yet

to face any International legal

consequences the US continues to use its

political and economic influence to

Shield Israel from accountability

vetoing multiple un Security Council

resolutions aimed at condemning Israeli

crimes or taking action to stop them and

they've done this while simultaneously

pretending that there is no genocide and

that even if there was Israel has the

right to quote defend itself by

obliterating an entire history culture

and

[Applause]

people the ICC relies on state

cooperation to enforce its warrants and

conduct

investigations however Nations like the

US and its allies can simply refuse to

cooperate the ICC does not have its own

enforcement mechanisms and its Reliance

on memb States for arrests and evidence

collection makes it vulnerable to

exactly this kind of non-compliance

what's more the principle of

complimentarity which underpins the

icc's jurisdiction states that the ICC

can only prosecute when National courts

are unwilling or unable to do so Nations

often claim jurisdiction over their own

Personnel conducting internal

investigations that frequently result in

little to no accountability these

internal investigations often lack

transparency and Independence serving

more as a means to Plate International

demands than to deliver Justice the Rome

statute itself which established the IC

contains Provisions that limit its reach

for instance article 98 prevents the ICC

from requesting the surrender of a

person from a state if it would require

that state to act inconsistently with

its International obligations this

provision has been used by the US to

secure bilateral immunity agreements

with several countries ensuring that us

Nationals cannot be handed over to the

ICC one of the primary reasons

International courts like the ICC failed

to hold the US and its allies

accountable is the significant political

influence they wield the permanent

members of the UN Security Council the

US UK France Russia and China hold veto

power given that three of these

countries are close allies it allows

them to block any actions that may

threaten their interests this veto power

has been used repeatedly to Shield

nations from accountability this was

evident when the US pressured other

Security Council Members to block any

attempts to refer its actions in

Afghanistan to the IC the security

council's influence over the ICC not

only limits the Court's Effectiveness

but also undermines it the ability of

powerful Nations to block referrals and

influence investigations demonstrates

that the ICC is a tool of political

power rather than an impartial judicial

body this erodes trust in the ICC and

discourages cooperation from other

nations further weakening its ability to

enforce international law and the

influence of these nations extends far

beyond the security Council countries

like the US leverage their economic and

diplomatic power to sway other nations

and international bodies with threats of

sanctions withdrawal of Aid or

diplomatic isolation often used to

dissuade countries from supporting

actions that might hold the us or its

allies accountable their manipulation of

international politics ensures that the

ICC and other International bodies

cannot function impartially or in some

cases function at all despite the

admirable goal of bringing Justice to

the world these International organs

have instead brought western style Law

and Order that means the entire world is

divided into two groups those allowed to

break the rules and those subject to the

consequences The Selective enforcement

that results from this world order

undermines the core principles of

justice and equality that institutions

like the UN and the ICC were supposedly

founded upon by investigating examples

such as the Vietnam War and Israel's

genocide in Gaza it becomes evident that

international law is often manipulated

to serve the interest of the powerful

while underdeveloped States bear the

brunt of enforcement this disparity not

only erodes trust in international

institutions but also perpetuates global

inequality and encourages further

violations of international Norms the

inability of the I to prosecute us and

Israeli officials despite clear evidence

of war crimes exemplifies the systemic

failures that plague our current system

of international law the promise of True

Justice will remain unfulfilled as long

as the US us and its allies continue to

evade

[Music]

accountability episodes like this one

are made possible thanks to our generous

patrons on patreon if you'd like to help

support the show and get some great

perks while you're at it consider

becoming a patron perks include access

to our Discord server Early Access to

videos ad free episodes and more you can

help us keep the channel afloat by

becoming a patron at patreon.com first

thought thanks for watching and we'll

see you next time