ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies key instruments of preventive diplomacy at the United Nations (UN) and regional level and examines the strengths and limitations they face in assisting the peaceful evolution of the international order. It discusses the rising importance of international criminal justice as an instrument of diplomatic relations. The chapter overviews the evolution of the negotiations establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC) and explains the ICC role and challenges in fostering international order and peaceful change. It adopts a narrow understanding of the normative dimension of the evolution of the world order, which we define in terms of the reduction of international and domestic violence. The chapter discusses a two-pronged approach for reaching this objective. In the short term, diplomats ought to work to negatively alter the actors' structure of incentives for resorting to violence. In the long term, diplomats ought to engage in actions that address structural causes of conflict.
