Abstract

This article seeks to conceptualize the relationship of the International Criminal Court to the events collectively known as the 'Arab Spring.' It suggests that an impact of international criminal justice in this context cannot readily be assumed but that the Court has had more of a role than its limited interventions in the region suggest. The article focuses in particular on the work of international criminal justice in connection to the Arab Spring as resulting from the criss-crossing strategies of various actors. It analyses some of its impacts on the dynamics of war and intervention, in distributing blame, in fighting impunity and on transitional justice more generally. The article concludes with a few thoughts on how the encounter with a macro-social event such as the 'Arab Spring' shapes what can be expected of international criminal justice.