The U.S. War on the International Criminal Court

In July, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the United States was launching a government-wide campaign to dismantle the International Criminal Court. His announcement follows President Trump's Executive Order 14,203 in February of 2025 imposing economic sanctions on a dozen ICC officials. Citing the ICC's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Trump administration claims the ICC threatens U.S. sovereignty and that of its allies. Richard Falk, Princeton University professor emeritus of international law and chairman of the board of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, discusses the history of the International Criminal Court, the United States' volatile relationship with it, why some ICC member states are also reluctant to support the court's prosecution of Israeli leaders, and the unacknowledged geopolitics behind Western leaders' support for Israel.