In this episode, we tackle war crimes. Please note that we record episodes in the month before they are posted—just in case you are wondering why we aren’t talking about one big event in particular.

REFERENCES

People have desecrated corpses throughout history:

Breed, Allen G. “Desecration of the Dead is as Old as War Itself.” January 13, 2012. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/nation-world/2012/01/14/desecration-dead-old-war-itself/15184013007/

Like a flag of truce:

Little, Becky. “How Did the White Flag Become a Symbol of Surrender?” Updated May 27, 2025. History.com. https://www.history.com/articles/when-did-the-white-flag-become-associated-with-surrender

Don’t kill the messenger:

Frank, David. “Chapter 19 – The Classical Origins and Modern Expressions of ‘Don’t Shoot the Messenger’.” September 4, 2025. Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/dont-shoot-the-journalists/classical-origins-and-modern-expressions-of-dont-shoot-the-messenger/97A99431730AA8701715ECB376467643

The Defenestration of Prague:

Britannica Editors. “Defenestration of Prague.” May 16, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/event/Defenestration-of-Prague-1618

One of the things that began the Thirty Years’ War in Europe:

Britannica Editors. “Thirty Years’ War.” Updated January 6, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/event/Thirty-Years-War

It ends with the treaty called the Peace of Westphalia:

Gesley, Jenny. “The Peach of Westphalia.” October 24, 2017. Library of Congress. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2017/10/the-peace-of-westphalia/

The world today is composed of nation states:

Comstock, Nancy. W. “Nation State.” 2024. EBSCO. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/politics-and-government/nation-state

Basically, at some point Europe colonized almost the entirety of the world:

Becker, Bastian. “European Overseas Colonies and Their Colonizers Over Time [Interactive map].” September 18, 2023. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/european-overseas-colonies-and-their-colonizers?time=earliest

This is probably not the video Steve was referencing, but it illustrates the point that everyone goes to war:

ABC News (Australia). “Dozens Killed in Tribal Fighting in Papua New Guinea [Video].” August 23, 2023. https://youtu.be/EhVpKBJESB8?si=3pIXT2kaNlcmKxQp

The most famous being the Hauge conventions:

HCCH. “Conventions and Other Instruments.” https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions

Most of the modern war crimes were as a result of World War II:

Penrose, Mary Margaret. “Post-World War II Developments: Genevea Conventions.” December 10, 2025. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/war-crime/Post-World-War-II-developments

The Napoleonic Wars gave rise to some:

Britannic Editors. “Napoleonic Wars.” November 24, 2025. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Napoleonic-Wars

The Geneva Convention in 1864:

International Committee of the Red Cross. “Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field. Geneva, 22 August 1864.” https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gc-1864

A list of war crimes, right now:

BBC. “War Crimes.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/war/overview/crimes_1.shtml

How to treat prisoners of war:

United Nations. “Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.” August 12, 1949. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/geneva-convention-relative-treatment-prisoners-war

Respecting flags of truce:

Arnold, Roberta. “Flags of Truce.” May 2006. Oxford Public International Law. https://opil.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e297

In ’49, Geneva conventions:

International Committee of the Red Cross. “Geneva Conventions of 1949, Additional Protocols and Their Commentaries.” https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/geneva-conventions-1949additional-protocols-and-their-commentaries

A lot of rules about treatment of noncombatants:

United Nations. “Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.” August 12, 1949. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/geneva-convention-relative-protection-civilian-persons-time-war

The idea of total war:

Britannica Editors. “Total War.” December 5, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/topic/total-war

Dresden:

Dawsey, Jason. “Apocalypse in Dresden, February 1945.” February 13, 2020. The National WWII Museum. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/apocalypse-dresden-february-1945

Fire bombing of Tokyo:

History.com Editors. “Firebombing of Tokyo.” Updated January 31, 2025. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-9/firebombing-of-tokyo

Hamburg:

Curatola, John. “Operation Gomorrah: The First of the Firestorms.” July 10, 2023. The National WWII Museum. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/operation-gomorrah-first-firestorms

The Blitz:

Curatola, John. “The Blitz of 1940.” August 27, 2025. The National WWII Museum. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/blitz-1940

Not attacking hospitals:

International Committee of the Red Cross. “The Protection of Hospitals During Armed Conflicts: What the Law Says.” June 11, 2023. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/protection-hospitals-during-armed-conflicts-what-law-says

It’s a horrible thing that Israelis bombed a hospital in the Gaza strip:

United Nations. “Pattern of Israeli Attacks on Gaza Hospitals Raises Grave Concerns – Report.” December 31, 2024. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/12/pattern-israeli-attacks-gaza-hospitals-raises-grave-concerns-report

Who wrote them:

Shaw, Malcolm. “Geneva Conventions.” December 3, 2025. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Geneva-Conventions

The Kellog-Briand pact:

Office of the Historian. “The Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928.” https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/kellogg

The Weimar Republic:

Britannica Editors. “Weimar Republic.” December 19, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/place/Weimar-Republic

You had, clearly, violation of international law when Iraq goes into Kuwait:

Hensel, Howard M. “Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.” 2023. EBSCO. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/military-history-and-science/iraqi-invasion-kuwait

What George H. Bush’s administration did:

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. “Address to the Nation Announcing Operation Desert Storm, 1991.” https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/address-nation-announcing-operation-desert-storm-1991

Whereas the second Gulf War was sort of a counterpoint:

Doherty, Carroll and Kiley, Jocelyn. “A Look Back at How Fear and False Beliefs Bolstered U.S. Public Support for War in Iraq.” March 14, 2023. Pew Research.