From the Quasi War with France and the opening of Japan, to the numerous interventions of the 1990s, these events have been situated at the heart of US foreign policy. There are four different explanations as to why the US, throughout its history, has used military force just short of war. Some scholars have suggested that nations use military force on behalf of security objectives. Others have maintained that economic self-interest has motivated many military interventions. Recently many researchers have explored the extent to which the US has used force to promote democracy and human rights, and still more scholars have argued that presidents use limited force for domestic political purposes. Assessing the utility of each of these explanations throughout US history, Meernik employs both historical narrative and statistical techniques to provide a comprehensive account of these important foreign policy events. This engaging, highly informative volume is particularly suited to scholars and students in the fields of international relations, foreign policy, military affairs and history.

This book provides the most comprehensive and scientific assessment to date of what it means to appear before war crimes tribunals. This ground-breaking analysis, conducted with the cooperation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Victims and Witnesses Section, examines the positive and negative impact that testifying has on those who bear witness to the horrors of war by shedding new light on the process. While most witnesses have positive feelings and believe they contributed to international justice, there is a small but critical segment of witnesses whose security, health, and well-being are adversely affected after testifying. The witness experience is examined holistically, including witness' perceptions of their physical and psychological well-being. Because identity (gender and ethnicity) and war trauma were central to the ICTY's mandate and the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the research explores in-depth how they have impacted the most critical stakeholders of any transitional justice mechanism: the witnesses.

From the Quasi War with France and the opening of Japan, to the numerous interventions of the 1990s, these events have been situated at the heart of US foreign policy. There are four different explanations as to why the US, throughout its history, has used military force just short of war. Some scholars have suggested that nations use military force on behalf of security objectives. Others have maintained that economic self-interest has motivated many military interventions. Recently many researchers have explored the extent to which the US has used force to promote democracy and human rights, and still more scholars have argued that presidents use limited force for domestic political purposes. Assessing the utility of each of these explanations throughout US history, Meernik employs both historical narrative and statistical techniques to provide a comprehensive account of these important foreign policy events. This engaging, highly informative volume is particularly suited to scholars and students in the fields of international relations, foreign policy, military affairs and history.

This book provides the most comprehensive and scientific assessment to date of what it means to appear before war crimes tribunals. This ground-breaking analysis, conducted with the cooperation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Victims and Witnesses Section, examines the positive and negative impact that testifying has on those who bear witness to the horrors of war by shedding new light on the process. While most witnesses have positive feelings and believe they contributed to international justice, there is a small but critical segment of witnesses whose security, health, and well-being are adversely affected after testifying. The witness experience is examined holistically, including witness' perceptions of their physical and psychological well-being. Because identity (gender and ethnicity) and war trauma were central to the ICTY's mandate and the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the research explores in-depth how they have impacted the most critical stakeholders of any transitional justice mechanism: the witnesses.

Some injustices are so massive, so heinous, and so extraordinary that ordinary courts are no longer adequate. The creation of international courts and tribunals to confront major violations of human rights sought to bring justice to affected communities as well as to the entire world. Yet if justice is a righting of the imbalance between what has happened and what is reflected in the law, no amount of punishment and no judgment could compensate for that suffering and loss. In order to understand the meaning of justice, James David Meernik and Kimi Lynn King studied the perspective of witnesses who have testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Using a unique survey, Meernik and King look at the identity of the victims and their perception of the fairness of ICTY. Because of the need to justify the practical and emotional difficulties involved in testifying before an international tribunal, witnesses look not just to the institution to judge its effectiveness, but also to their own contribution, by testifying effectively. The central elements of the theory Meernik and King develop-identity, fairness, and experience-transcend specific conflicts and countries and are of importance to people everywhere.