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what has been happening in Gaza since October 2023 is an act of genocide. It is the subject of a case being heard in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in which South Africa has accused Israel of committing acts of genocide. The case began in December 2023 but the ICJ has yet to reach a judgment.
The reason the issue is so controversial is that the word “genocide” holds so much power. To be accused of it is to be accused of what is considered in international law to be the “crime of crimes”. International law holds that not only should states not commit genocide, they must also prevent and punish it in their own criminal law. Some commentators would even argue that the use of armed force to stop genocide is acceptable.
Yet the legal definition of genocide is much narrower than is generally understood. That’s why so few events have ever been labelled as genocide as a matter of law. Looking at some of them might help to shed some light on the Gaza controversy.

The Realist Case for Global Rules  (Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy)
You don’t need to be an idealist to be worried about Donald Trump’s approach to global order.
There are many things that U.S. President Donald Trump doesn’t understand about world politics—which is astonishing given that he’s in his second term at the White House—and one of them is the importance of international institutions. Institutions are rules, and Trump’s contempt for rules predates his entry into politics. He has long seen norms, laws, and rules as pesky constraints that sometimes prevent him from taking whatever he wants, and he’s brought that attitude to foreign policy. Whether he’s accepting lucrative emoluments from foreign governments, threatening to seize Greenland and annex Canada, or bullying foreign visitors in the Oval Office, Trump sees no norm as beyond challenge, no agreement as sacrosanct, and no global institution as worth investing in or defending.

You might think a realist like me would nod in approval. Don’t realists think that power is all that matters and that norms, rules, and institutions have little impact on what states—and especially major powers—do? If that’s what you were taught in your introduction to international relations class, go back to your instructor and request a refund. Yes, realism does view power as the most important factor in world politics, and it maintains that powerful states have the