"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, foreign minister of Myanmar, went to The Hague last December to defend her country against charges of genocide. By going, she also acknowledged that the international community has a legitimate interest in holding countries accountable for genocide and crimes against humanity. Obviously, this includes Myanmar, but as importantly it also includes every other country. By responding as she did, Myanmar’s foreign minister actually raised the bar for other countries accused of committing war crimes. Myanmar is perhaps the first country to acknowledge the legitimacy of the international court, and the requirement that such serious accusations must be responded to. Indeed, such genocide charges are typically leveled only at already-defeated countries and deposed dictators. Or, as commonly, such crimes are not prosecuted at all. This has been the general policy for most of the other genocides that took place since the international genocide law was promulgated after World War II. By responding, Myanmar is in fact helping to establish new levels of accountability for not just its own army, but the larger community of nations..."