Sixty-seven years ago, the world came together in the hopes of creating an international institution that would advance international peace and security, vowing that the atrocities of World War II would never come to fruition again. Identifying common definitions of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, a foundation had been set. The United Nations, the product of this cross-border understanding, has done much towards upholding this call but often is stunted by the powerful veto allowed to the Permanent Five members of the U.N. Security Council.

Seeing the need for an independent body to further deter serious crimes and end criminal impunity, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was born. On July 1, 2002 the Rome Statute was ratified by 60 countries, now joined by 61 others (121 total), of whom have identified the significance of such a court.

In the 10 year anniversary of the Court's proceedings, it is imperative to highlight its accomplishments and to work in further supporting its efforts. We need to reassert the global call from  1945 to uphold international peace and security, together.

The Rio+20 summit, intended to develop a global sustainable development agenda, concluded last week.   In the words of author Gwynne Dyer, "rarely has such a large elephant laboured so long to give birth to such a small mouse."  150 world leaders were unwilling and incapable of creating substantive reforms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because of a lack of political will and competing economic interests.  The United Nations, the G-8, G-20, and other major multinational conferences suffer from many of the same ills.  This begs the question, what is the alternative?

Nonetheless, the past few months were busy for the world's major international institutions.  The International Criminal Court, which is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary, convicted Thomas Lubanga in March marking a major milestone for the international justice community.  However, others have not been so successful.  The United Nations is struggling to resolve the fifteen-month long crisis in Syria that has killed more than 10,000 people.   The most recent G-20 summit also recently concluded in Mexico producing piecemeal economic recovery efforts and meaningless statements about violence in Syria.

UPDATE (6/27/12): Earlier today, President Morsi announced that he would appoint a woman as one of his vice presidents, and a Coptic Christian as his other. On the whole, this move should help to assuage the concerns of those who feared that Morsi's affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood would lead him to adopt radical Islamist policies. In addition, this announcement followed news that an administrative court in Cairo has overturned the military's declared right to make warantless arrests. Overall, a good day for democracy in Egypt, though, of course, much work remains to be done.

This past Sunday,  Egypt took another tenuous step along the road to democracy, as the  Supreme Presidential Election Council declared the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Mohamed Morsi, the winner of Egypt's first presidential elections since the fall of Hosni Mubarak. According to statistics released by the Election Council, Morsi garnered 51.7% of the popular vote, compared with a 48.3% share for his opponent, Ahmed Shafiq.

As major players accompanied their respective heads of state to the beach-laden shores of Los Cabos, Mexico for this year's G20 Summit Monday, those of us remaining were left to question and comment on the body's legitimacy as well as on its unfolding proceedings.

New Rules for Global Finance in partnership with Heinrich Böll Stiftung, envisioned a way to seize this opportunity. In holding their event, "Promises of the G20 Process: Prospects for Enhanced Transparency and Accountability" , on June 18, 2012, the same day as the opening of the G20 Summit, it provided a platform for such debate.  Event Chair and New Rules for Global Finance Executive Director, Jo Marie Griesgraber, sought to highlight this significance.

Among the panelists in attendance, a wide array of concerns was noted. Each participant sought to highlight their grievances with the economic super-committee, while some remarked on its advantages.