There is a hopeful story to be told with respect to the activation of the crime of aggression at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Activation will either add to deterrence, or at worst will be harmlessly symbolic. But what if the premise is wrong? What if there is a risk that activation of the crime of aggression will undermine rather than advance deterrence? It matters not that the crime is activated, but how it is activated — the narrow definitional and jurisdictional scope of the crime as it has been enacted at the ICC, may undermine the deterrence effect of the Court by further encouraging cynicism about what the Court can and cannot do. Recognizing this risk both enriches the debate and raises larger questions about strategies for building and expanding international criminal law and its institutions.

中文翻译：

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侵略罪会破坏威慑吗？

关于在国际刑事法院 (ICC) 激活侵略罪，有一个充满希望的故事。激活要么增加威慑，要么最坏的情况是无害的象征性。但是如果前提是错误的呢？如果发动侵略罪有可能削弱而不是促进威慑，那该怎么办？罪行是否被激活并不重要，但它是如何被激活的——国际刑事法院颁布的罪行的狭义定义和管辖范围，可能会进一步鼓励对法院能做什么的怀疑，从而削弱法院的威慑作用并且做不到。认识到这种风险既丰富了辩论，也提出了关于建立和扩展国际刑法及其制度的战略的更大问题。