Sanctioned Justice

Since the founding of the United Nations in 1945, the United States has stood as both benefactor and challenger to the international system it helped build. Contributing 22 percent of the UN's regular budget, Washington is indispensable to its survival, yet its financial leverage and political influence often constrain the independence of UN human rights mechanisms. In July 2025, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese presented her landmark report, Economy of Genocide, denouncing American corporations profiting from the Gaza occupation and destruction. Within days, the U.S. Government imposed personal sanctions against her, an unprecedented act that triggered global outrage from within and beyond the UN. Sanctioned Justice exposes how the United States uses its dominance within the UN to shield Israel from accountability for violations of international law, war crimes, and genocide. Mandated to investigate human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories, Albanese enjoys immunity under international law. Her case illustrates how Washington's tools, funding leverage, Security Council veto, selective application of international law, and narrative framing, both uphold and undermine the UN system it dominates. This book offers a powerful lens on hegemony, accountability, and the politics of justice at the heart of the UN.