Please write an essay that answers the essay prompt below. Your essay should be concise and
organized around a clear thesis, argument, or perspective. A major aim of the essay is to
support your thesis and argument with sustained engagement with the relevant assigned
readings.
The essay should be double-spaced, 12-point font, with 1-inch margins, have a title, page
numbers, a word count, and references (format of your choice). Please do not repeat the
prompt in your paper. The essay should be between 1,500-1,750 words. The word count should
not include references. Please proofread your paper for clarity and grammatical errors.
Long Essay #2 Prompt
Our readings this week explore the peace vs. justice question and examine the ways in which ad-hoc international criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court (ICC) positively and/or
negatively impact the quest for cease-fires, peace treaties, and stability in the context of
ongoing violent conflict. As Priscilla Hayner notes in The Peacemaker’s Paradox, there is an
ongoing debate as to whether the pursuit of criminal accountability (e.g., the launching and
pursuit of investigations, the issuance of criminal indictments, the quest for arrests, the
initiation of trials, and other aspects of the legal process) advances or undermines the quest to
end violent conflict and halt war.
Write an essay that analyzes the peace vs. justice debate and the larger question of the impact
of ad hoc tribunals and/or the ICC on armed conflict. The essay can draw on examples from a
number of different cases of armed conflict, but it should place an in-depth focus on one to two
such case studies in Hayner’s book. Doing so will help anchor your analysis in specific examples.
Short overviews of different case studies can be found in Chapter 5 (which is one of the
assigned chapters). Chapter 13 (also one of the assigned chapters) focuses on the Libya case.
Feel free to analyze the interesting case studies (Sierra Leone, Chapter 10, Liberia, Chapter 11,
and/or Uganda, Chapter 12) in your essay. These chapters may be particularly useful for your
essay because of what each one tells us about how the pursuit of justice may impact the pursuit
of peace. While the paper should focus predominantly on the Hayner book, you can also draw
upon Bosco’s book, Rough Justice.
You can only use the sources listed above in the instructions.
