The failure of deterrence: The reactions of Slobodan Milosevic and Joseph Kony to international legal sanction threats

Abstract

For my master thesis I explored the reactions of Slobodan Milosevic and Joseph Kony to the prosecution threats issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court respectively. For this exploration, an analytical framework has been built, using insights from psychology and criminology - including insights into personality, motivation, rationality, legal deterrence, extralegal sanction threats and legitimacy. By taking an actor-centric approach and by employing the analytical framework, the reactions these men displayed to the legal sanction threats issued by the international courts that prosecuted them were assessed with greater accuracy than before.