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A brief historical review on the development of international criminal court reveals that while there has always been an interest towards creating a permanent international criminal court, concerns over national sovereignty have impeded its entrance into force. However, after the involvement of NGOs, organized as a broad-based alliance, in the process, this idea has in a very short time come into reality. This is a clear evidence for the effective role the NGO Coalition has played in world politics. While mainstream IR theories have in general tended to ignore this role, a review based on empirical evidence proves that this actor has the ability to change the direction of global events. This study evaluates the role the NGO Coalition has played by considering its activities before the Rome Conference, where the Statute establishing the ICC was adopted, during the conference, and after the conference. This evaluation demonstrates that the Coalition as an actor of world politics has been very influential throughout the entire process whereby the ICC was created and put into operation.The involvement of the global advocacy network comprised of over 2,000 civil society organizations in the establishment of the Court and the subsequent campaigns to reinforce the Court''s role and effectiveness indicates may herald a new epoch where the impact of global civil society would be more visible and determinative. While the subject matters of so-called «high politics,» such as wars, bilateral relations between nation-states, their pursuance of national interests and strategic considerations still constitute the major discussions of daily or popular political inquiries and analyses, the non-ignorable role of the global network under review suggests that the constituents of this network as well as the network itself should be included in those inquiries for a better and proper understanding of world politics.

Transnational Activism in World Politics: NGOs and Creation of the ICC: Role of a Loosely Organized Principled Network in the Establishment of a Global Court