Can the ICC or UN Save Us?

The Brutal Truth Nobody Wants to Hear

Can the ICC or UN Save Us?

The Brutal Truth Nobody Wants to Hear

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #721: Wednesday, January 7th, 2026.

Let’s get something straight right now-before hope turns into paralysis.

Every time a democracy starts wobbling, a predictable question pops up:

“Can the UN step in?”
“What about the ICC?”
“Isn’t there some international authority that can stop this?”

That question sounds reasonable. It feels comforting.
It’s also dangerously naïve.

Because here’s the blunt truth-no international body is coming to rescue American democracy.

Not the UN. Not the ICC. Not NATO. Not anyone.

And the faster people understand that…the better chance we have of stopping what’s unfolding.

The Fantasy of External Rescue

Authoritarian movements love one thing above all else: delay.

They thrive while citizens wait for:

• “The adults in the room”

• “The courts”

• “The institutions”

• “The international community”

Waiting is how takeovers happen.

And the belief that someone else will step in is the most reliable way to ensure no one does.

So let’s dismantle the fantasy-starting…with the two institutions people keep invoking like magic words.

The ICC: Powerful on Paper, Toothless in America

The International Criminal Court exists to prosecute:

• War crimes

• Crimes against humanity

• Genocide

Sounds promising, right?

Except for one small detail that makes all the difference:

The United States does not recognize the ICC’s authority.

That’s not a technicality. That’s the whole story.

The ICC:

• Cannot compel U.S. cooperation

• Cannot subpoena American officials

• Cannot arrest anyone inside U.S. jurisdiction

• Cannot enforce rulings against Americans

If you’re imagining ICC investigators parachuting into Washington with handcuffs… you’re watching too many movies.

But…and this is important…“toothless” does not mean “irrelevant.”

The ICC’s real power is not enforcement.
It’s documentation.

The ICC creates:

• Permanent legal records

• International consensus on what actually happened

• Historical anchors that survive regime changes

Authoritarians fear records almost as much as resistance…because records make denial impossible later.

The ICC doesn’t stop the crime.
It makes sure the crime…can’t be erased.

That matters…but…it won’t save you in the moment.

The UN: A Spotlight, Not a Shield

Now let’s talk about the UN…the organization people imagine as some kind of global referee.

The UN has zero authority to intervene in U.S. governance.

None.

What it can do:

• Issue formal reports on democratic backsliding

• Appoint special rapporteurs

• Validate that what’s happening is not normal politics

• Coordinate diplomatic pressure if things spiral

What it cannot do:

• Overrule U.S. elections

• Block domestic power grabs

• Force compliance from a nuclear-armed superpower

The UN doesn’t stop authoritarianism.
It names it.

And naming matters…but naming alone doesn’t stop a fire from spreading.

Think of the UN as a floodlight…not a fire extinguisher.

Why These Institutions Still Matter (Even Though They Won’t Save You)

Here’s where the analysis gets subtle…and where most people get it wrong.

International bodies don’t prevent collapses.
They catalog them.

They don’t stop the crime.
They raise the cost of committing it.

They don’t protect democracy directly.
They make it harder to pretend the destruction was accidental.

That has consequences:

• Markets react

• Allies reposition

• Sanctions become easier to justify

• Post-regime accountability becomes unavoidable

Which is exactly why…authoritarians spend so much time…discrediting “global institutions.”

They know something important:

You can survive resistance.
You can survive protests.
But permanent records are harder to outrun.

The Uncomfortable Truth Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud

Here it is…the sentence people keep dancing around:

If American democracy is saved, it will be saved internally…or not at all.

Not by Geneva.
Not by The Hague.
Not by New York.

By:

• State officials who refuse illegal orders

• Judges who hold the line

• Civil servants who don’t comply

• Journalists who keep publishing

• Whistleblowers who take risks

• Citizens who apply sustained pressure

International institutions can support that effort.
They cannot…replace it.

And the most dangerous thing citizens can do right now….is outsource responsibility to an imaginary cavalry.

Why Waiting Is the Authoritarian’s Favorite Strategy

Every successful power grab relies on the same psychology:

“Surely someone will stop this.”

That belief buys time.
Time buys normalization.
Normalization buys surrender.

By the time international bodies weigh in meaningfully…the damage is usually already done…and the question shifts from prevention to containment.

That’s not pessimism.
That’s history.

So What’s the Correct Way to Think About the ICC and UN?

Here it is…clean…accurate…and usable:

• They matter for legitimacy

• They matter for records

• They matter for future accountability

• They matter for global alignment

They do not matter as first responders.

They are force multipliers…not saviors.

And anyone telling you otherwise…anyone selling hope based on “international intervention”…is either uninformed….or lying to you.

The Real Question You Should Be Asking

The real question is not:

“Can the ICC or UN help us?”

The real question is:

“What am I doing so that when history is written, there’s something worth documenting?”

Because international institutions don’t create resistance.
They record it.

And authoritarian regimes don’t fall….because someone asked politely from overseas.

They fall….when the cost of continuing becomes higher than the cost of stopping.

That equation is solved…

…here at home.

Not abroad.

#HoldFast

Back soon,

-Jack
Jack Hopkins

P.S.

Resources for Those Who Want Facts-Not Fantasy

If you want to understand what international institutions can and cannot do—and how democratic erosion is actually documented-start here. These are not “hope merchants.” These are record-keepers.

International Law & Accountability

International Criminal Court (ICC)
– Official explanations of jurisdiction, limits, and prosecutorial scope
– Case histories involving crimes against humanity and transnational offenses
→ https://www.icc-cpi.int

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
– The treaty that defines what the ICC can prosecute—and who is bound by it
– Essential for understanding why the U.S. is outside ICC enforcement
→ https://www.icc-cpi.int/resource-library

United Nations Monitoring & Reporting

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
– Democratic backsliding reports
– Election interference assessments
– Special rapporteur findings
→ https://www.ohchr.org

UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
– Formal investigations into rule-of-law erosion and authoritarian practices
→ https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures

UN General Assembly Reports on Democracy and Rule of Law
– Annual documentation of global democratic decline and election interference
→ https://www.un.org/en/ga

Election Interference & Authoritarian Playbooks

U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — Russia Investigation Reports
– Bipartisan, documented findings on foreign interference in U.S. elections
→ https://www.intelligence.senate.gov

National Intelligence Council — Foreign Threat Assessments
– Official U.S. intelligence evaluations of foreign influence operations
→ https://www.dni.gov

Freedom House — Freedom in the World Reports
– Longitudinal data tracking democratic erosion globally and domestically
→ https://freedomhouse.org

Democratic Resilience & Civil Defense

Brennan Center for Justice
– Legal analysis on election security, authoritarian tactics, and institutional defense
→ https://www.brennancenter.org

Protect Democracy
– Research and litigation tracking anti-democratic behavior in real time
→ https://protectdemocracy.org

Atlantic Council — Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab)
– Analysis of information warfare, disinformation campaigns, and foreign influence
→ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/programs/digital-forensic-research-lab

Historical Context & Pattern Recognition

Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project
– Data-driven analysis of democratic backsliding and autocratic transitions
→ https://www.v-dem.net

International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance)
– Comparative studies on democratic collapse and recovery
→ https://www.idea.int