Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice – Crawshaw Steve (2025)

Could we ever see Vladimir Putin in the dock for his crimes, or a Western ally such as Benjamin Netanyahu? Putting a country’s leader on trial once seemed unthinkable, but journalist and human rights advocate Steve Crawshaw explains how a series of remarkable changes has made both scenarios possible despite the many challenges. Combining vivid reportage with gripping history, Crawshaw draws on his reporting from the front lines of justice in Ukraine and Israel, as well as earlier encounters with Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević and other war criminals, to tell the story of the long struggle for accountability. Beginning with the origins of the Geneva Conventions in the 19th century, the book follows Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide” and campaigned for its punishment, and a Syrian police photographer whose evidence helped put a torturer behind bars. It continues to the fierce debates over which individuals the International Criminal Court in The Hague should hold accountable for war crimes. Survivors remain determined to achieve change, while Crawshaw argues that Western double standards must not be allowed to distort the scales of justice.