Sumário:The development and aims of the ICC -- Tensions in the pursuit of justice -- Late modernity, social control, and the ICC -- The role of actors: Structuring the use of ideal politik and realpolitik. Casting a wide shadow : the preventatipe role of the ICC. Acting as a catalyst : the persuasive capacity of the Court -- The trial as a site of contest : the DRC and Thomas Lubanga: The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Common and conflicting aims : ambivalent engagements with the Lubanga trial. Justice in the Congo : the Lubanga trial in its wider context -- The ICC as a tool: Visibility, adaptability, and the ICC as a model of justice. Flexibility, plurality, and the ICC as a tool. The ICC as a supranational institution of control -- Conclusion: Producing resilience and negative externalities by consuming conflict. Future directions.