Author Archives: Mark Kersten

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About Mark Kersten

Mark Kersten is an Assistant Professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada, and a Senior Consultant at the Wayamo Foundation in Berlin, Germany. Mark is the founder of the blog Justice in Conflict and author of the book, published by Oxford University Press, by the same name. He holds an MSc and PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a BA (Hons) from the University of Guelph. Mark has previously been a Research Associate at the Refugee Law Project in Uganda, and as researcher at Justice Africa and Lawyers for Justice in Libya in London. He has taught courses on genocide studies, the politics of international law, transitional justice, diplomacy, and conflict and peace studies at the London School of Economics, SOAS, and University of Toronto. Mark’s research has appeared in numerous academic fora as well as in media publications such as The Globe and Mail, Al Jazeera, BBC, Foreign Policy, the CBC, Toronto Star, and The Washington Post. He has a passion for gardening, reading, hockey (on ice), date nights, late nights, Lego, and creating time for loved ones.

Pride and the Interventionist Itch: NATO in the Wake of Libya

Pride is a tricky thing. We want to feel it but it doesn’t always manifest itself as a good trait. For this reason Alexander Pope once declared that pride is “the never-failing vice of fools”, while Saint Augustine wrote that … Continue reading

Posted in Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, NATO, Responsibiltiy to Protect (R2P), Syria | 1 Comment

What a Difference Actually Asking Makes: Burkina Faso, Asylum and Gaddafi

A few months ago, amidst rampant rumours that Muammar Gaddafi was seeking asylum in Burkina Faso, I expressed my frustration at what I thought was groundless and largely unfounded speculation: “If Gaddafi does, in fact, seek asylum he will surely … Continue reading

Posted in Burkina Faso, International Criminal Court (ICC), Libya, Libya and the ICC, The Tripoli Three (Tripoli3) | Leave a comment

The “Injustice Cascade” – Supplanting International Justice with Targeted Killing

Dear readers – this piece was originally posted, in an edited form, at JURIST. For keen readers of JiC there may be some repetition from previous themes or pieces but I thought it was “original” enough to post here nonetheless. … Continue reading

Posted in Crimes against humanity, Justice, Libya, Libya and the ICC, Middle East, NATO, Slobodan Milosevic, The Tripoli Three (Tripoli3) | Leave a comment

Propping up Tyrants: Selling to and Supporting Authoritarian Regimes

Brittany Lyons joins us as a guest-poster to discuss the mixed signals sent by states like the US when they provide military support to authoritarian regimes but decry authoritarian tactics. An aspiring professor of psychology, Brittany is currently working “to … Continue reading

Posted in al-Shabaab, Arms Deals, Arms Trade, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Middle East, Syria, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States, Yemen | 1 Comment

Dancing with the Devil – Dealing With Gaddafi

Sometimes there are articles that simply get under my skin and that create a pesky need to address them individually. John Deverell’s op-ed in The Guardian, There’s no shame in talking to pe0ple like Gaddafi, was one of those pieces. … Continue reading

Posted in Arms Deals, Human Rights, Justice, Libya, United Kingdom | Leave a comment

US troops to Uganda & Kony off to Darfur?

(This article was originally posted at RNW, here.) The decision to deploy 100 US troops to Uganda in order to contribute to efforts in the “hunt for Joseph Kony” has been, by and large, positively received. Finally, many opined after the announcement … Continue reading

Posted in Darfur, International Criminal Court (ICC), Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Peace Processes, Sudan, Uganda | 2 Comments

Chasing al-Shabaab: Is Kenya ‘Right to Intervene’ in Somalia?

Andrew Jillions joins us once again to consider the legality and justice of Kenya’s incursion into Somali territory last week. This post is the first of two on the subject, so keep your an eye out for the second piece … Continue reading

Posted in al-Shabaab, Famine, Justice, Kenya, Somalia | Leave a comment

The Death of Gaddafi and the “Injustice Cascade”

Many a practitioner, scholar and layman has argued that we live in a world where holding leaders accountable for committing international crimes – genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity – has become a norm. The world has no place … Continue reading

Posted in International Criminal Court (ICC), Justice, Libya, Libya and the ICC, NATO, Osama bin Laden, Osama bin Laden and international law, Slobodan Milosevic, The Tripoli Three (Tripoli3) | 8 Comments

Gaddafi’s Death: What now? What Justice?

When Col Muammar Gaddafi said earlier this year that he would “fight to the death” in the face of the revolution taking place in Libya, he wasn’t joking around. Flashing across the screens of virtually every news program today have … Continue reading

Posted in Human Rights, International Criminal Court (ICC), Justice, Libya, Libya and the ICC, Middle East, Osama bin Laden, Osama bin Laden and international law, The Tripoli Three (Tripoli3), United Kingdom, United States, War crimes | 8 Comments

Revisiting the Peace-Justice Debate in northern Uganda

Perhaps no nation has witnessed so impassioned a debate on the relationship between peace and international criminal justice as Uganda. Northern Uganda, a case many believed the Court could “cut its teeth” on, sparked a fierce discussion, popularly referred to … Continue reading

Posted in Human Rights, International Criminal Court (ICC), Justice, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Peace Negotiations, Peace Processes, Peacebuilding, Transitional Justice, Uganda | 8 Comments