ABSTRACT
Political communities historically have tried to establish norms and rules for interacting with their neighbors. Many early schemes sought methods specifically designed to manage or eliminate conflict between differing parties. In 1998, responding to a long-standing movement to create a permanent international criminal court and in light of the difficulties posed by the ad hoc nature of the Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals, UN members concluded a treaty that established the International Criminal Court. This moves international adjudication and international law far more in the direction of accepting individuals and nonstate entities such as terrorist and criminal groups as subjects of international law; historically only states have had legal status. The Atlantic Charter of 14 August 1941—a joint declaration by President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill calling for collaboration on economic issues and a permanent system of security—served as the foundation for the Declaration by the United Nations in January 1942.
