Early Developments
The Jay Treaty of 1794 between the United States and Great Britain is generally considered the beginning of the modern history of international negotiations.  Several other high level talks were held before the 1899 International Peace Conference was held in The Hague, Netherlands. 

It hoped to create rules for peaceful negotiation, preventing wars and establish rules for warfare. It proposed the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes and established the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which began working in 1902.

The end of World War I was a new beginning for many people, governments, and organizations.  In April 1919, the leaders of the United States, Great Britain and France met at the Paris Peace Conference, each with different goals.

France and Britain wanted to make sure Germany would never again threaten the peace of Europe. American President Woodrow Wilson hoped to create an international organization that would help guarantee peace for the future.  Out of that meeting came the Treaty of Versailles.  The Treaty punished Germany in very harsh terms.  It made them accept full blame for the war, pay huge sums of money for post-war repairs, and accept a loss of territory.  It also formed the League of Nations.

Over 40 countries joined the League, and promised to negotiate through problems instead of resorting to war.  Further, they agreed to cooperate in military and economic campaigns against any breaker of the peace. Unfortunately, the united States never joined the League, fearing it would pull them into future European wars.  Without American support, the League collapsed when it failed to prevent World War II.  The League finally transferred all of its assets to the United Nations in April 1946.

The United Nations

The events of World War II led to the formation of a new international peacekeeping organization, the United Nations. In January 1942, 26 nations agreed to continue fighting against the Axis Powers.  In April 1945, delegates from 50 countries met in San Francisco to discuss world problems, develop solutions, and draw up the United Nations Charter.  The U.N. officially became active on October 24, 1945, after the Charter was ratified by the United States, Great Britain, France, China and the Soviet Union, and a majority of the remaining 45 member nations.  Today, the General Assembly, the main body of the U.N., is made up of 189 nations, and accounts for most of the U.N. activity. 

The International Court of Justice, headquartered at the Hague, started work in April 1946. Usually, it tries only cases brought before it by any of the 189 U.N. Member States, but has made several concessions over the years. It is currently involved in war crimes cases involving Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was published by the U.N.  It includes fundamental human rights very similar to those claimed in the 1776 U.S. Declaration of Independence, and the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments from the Seneca Falls, New York Convention. The right to life liberty, property and security are among those included.

Violations of International Law

Unfortunately, this list is far too extensive, and only the most notable cases are included here.

Turkey

During World War I, the Muslim government of Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, was responsible for the extermination of 1.5 million Christian Armenians.

Germany

Although World War II claimed over 75,000,000 lives worldwide, the Holocaust remains the most terrible example of wartime brutality and cruelty in modern history.  Between five and six million Jews were deliberately and systematically murdered by Germany during World War II.  The deliberate destruction of an entire ethnic or religious group is called genocide.

Following the war, perpetrators of war crimes were put on trial in Nuremburg, Germany for crimes against humanity.  The 19 of the 22 Nazi leaders tried were either sentenced to death or prison, three were released.

Cambodia

From 1975-1979, Pol Pot and the communist Khmer Rouge controlled Cambodia.  During that time, at least 1,700,000 people were killed, mostly ethnic Vietnamese.  The Khmer Rouge were not defeated until the 1990s.  Pol Pot died in 1999 before he could be brought to local or international justice.

Rwanda

Beginning in April 1994, an estimated 750,000 of the minority Tutsi were killed by the majority Hutu tribe.  Years of tribal warfare that crossed the border into Uganda and Zaire involved the international community.

Yugoslavia

Currently, Slobodan Milosevic, former President of Serbia, is on trial in the Hague on one count of genocide, one count of complicity with genocide, and an additional 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity arising from the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995.  Milosevic, who has been on trial since January 9, 2002, is charged with the death of over 10,000 deaths.*

*Information source Human Rights Watch.

Apartheid

In 1948, South Africa legalized racism in the form of apartheid.  It was a form of legal segregation of blacks and whites covering housing, jobs, and education. The government was extreme in its enforcement of the apartheid statute, and thousands of black South Africans were killed.  Apartheid was officially ended on May 10, 1994, when the first democratic election since World War II took place.  Nelson Mandela, an activist jailed for over 20 years, was elected president.

Terrorism

Perhaps the major concern today is fear of international terrorism. Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence against people or property in order to gain revenge, intimidate, or force societies or governments to make decisions for political reasons.  Terrorist use bombs, assassinations, hijacking, kidnapping (and threats to use these methods) to accomplish their goals.

There are at least 85 recognized terrorist organizations worldwide.  In response to the terrorist threats, many changes have occurred.  Throughout the world, airport security has increased , international police organizations began sharing information in their efforts to prevent and catch terrorists, and governments have actively begun pursuing terrorist suspects and organizations.

Most notably, the United States initiated a comprehensive military operation against radical Muslim terrorists (Al-Qaeda) based in Afghanistan following a September 11, 2001 attack that destroyed the Twin Towers in New York City, and killed 3,000.