The UN-backed court, which sits in The Hague, has mostly ruled on cases of genocide and war crimes since it was set up in 2002.
Grounded in Straus's extensive fieldwork in contemporary Africa, the study of major twentieth-century cases of genocide, and the literature on genocide and political violence, Making and Unmaking Nations centers on cogent analyses of three nongenocide cases (Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, and Senegal) and two in which genocide took place (Rwanda and Sudan).
It was the latest expression of impatience by African leaders with the court, which some say has focused too narrowly on Africa while pursuing cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The town was supposed to have been under the protection of the United Nations as a 'safe area' but ended up as the location for the only legally proven case of genocide on European soil since the Second World War.
Similarly, there is no impropriety if, in certain cases of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity committed on its territory, Britain delegates prosecutorial powers to the International Criminal Court.
In the case of genocide, the perpetrators specifically target the protected groups for annihilation.
