Jennifer Trahan discusses the United Nation’s proposed October 23, 2015 initiative known as “the Code of Conduct.” The Code of Conduct would have called on the permanent members of the Security Council to refrain from using their veto power to block resolutions pertaining to mass atrocity crimes, such as China’s and Russia’s veto of Security Council resolutions dealing with the atrocities in Syria. Trahan argues that these political vetoes both shield perpetrators within the Assad regime from prosecution and harm the legitimacy of the Security Council and the UN. The United States, however, failed to join the Code. Trahan points out that failure to join such initiatives wastes moral capital and passes up the opportunity to act against perpetrators of mass atrocities.

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