Bosco weighs in for NPR on ICC prosecutor's removal
David Bosco, interim dean at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and a professor of international studies, was featured in a National Public Radio segment analyzing the International Criminal Court's historic vote to remove its chief prosecutor. Bosco argued that the court's actual record complicates the claims of anti-American bias made by its critics in Washington.
The July 24 segment, reported by NPR's Michele Kelemen for All Things Considered, examined the fallout after ICC member states voted to oust Karim Khan following allegations of sexual misconduct, along with the Trump administration's escalating campaign against the court. Bosco, author of Rough Justice: The International Criminal Court in a World of Power Politics, offered that context for NPR listeners nationwide.
Pushing back on the administration's rhetoric, Bosco said, “I'm in this kind of middle position of feeling like it's problematic for the court going after non-member states, but the record of the court is not that it's some kind of anti-American instrument.”
He also pointed to the ICC's arrest warrants for Israeli officials as a turning point in U.S. attitudes toward the court, noting, “Watching that happen with a close ally, a democracy, I think that's been enormously clarifying for the United States, and that's a huge motivating factor for the U.S. feeling like it really needs to push at this point against the ICC.”
Bosco's scholarship centers on international law, international organizations and the political dynamics shaping global governance institutions such as the ICC and the United Nations Security Council. That expertise informs the courses he teaches on world politics, international organization and international law, giving Hamilton Lugar School students direct access to faculty insight on breaking developments in international justice as they unfold.
The full segment is available on the NPR website.