Defining genocide: An international relations expert discusses the ongoing debate and its global implications

Lester Kiewit is joined by Dirk Moses, Professor of International Relations at the City College of New York.

Listen below.

In November 2023, six Western states filed a joint application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) arguing for an ample and expansive understanding of genocide.

The term 'genocide' was first coined in 1944 by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin to help describe early 20th-century attempts to destroy entire nations and ethnic groups, including the Holocaust.

It was later formalised in the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide where it is defined as:

'Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.'

In December 2023, South Africa approached the ICJ alleging that Israel had committed and was committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Moses says the current definition of genocide is not adequate to judge the ongoing situation in Gaza.

He argues that the international community has deliberately designed the definition to protect states.

"I don't think it's adequate. That is manifested in the decision of Karim Kahn, prosecutor at the ICC, not to charge Putin or Israeli leaders with genocide."

- Dirk Moses, Professor of International Relations - City College of New York

"War crimes and crimes against humanity are much easier to prove, and why is that? The international community... resolved to surgically distinguish genocide from armed conflict, from military action, because, of course, the winners in World War 2 weren't against warfare as such... but it was a very different point in time and humanitarian sensibility then."

- Dirk Moses, Professor of International Relations - City College of New York

Moses says the term 'genocide' was restricted to mean events such as the Holocaust and says the 'intent to destroy' is distinguished from 'the intent to defeat'.

"... this theory that I'm very sceptical about distinguishes genocide from armed conflict. One is the aim to defeat, one is the aim to destroy, but I don't think that reflects modern warfare."

- Dirk Moses, Professor of International Relations - City College of New York

Moses says while there is an armed conflict in the Middle East it is a 'grossly asymmetrical one'.

"The effect on Gaza is, if you like, genocidal and there's clearly an intention to destroy Gaza. But whether this captures the legal definition of genocide, which the ICJ or the ICC work with, is another question."