JOHN LAUGHLAND is Director of Studies at the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation in Paris. He is the author of numerous works including A History of Political Trials from Charles I to Saddam Hussein (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2008); Schelling versus Hegel: from German Idealism to Christian Metaphysics (London: Ashgate, 2007) and Travesty: the Trial of Slobodan Milosevic and the Corruption of International Justice (London: Pluto Books, 2007). For many years he worked as an independent commentator writing on internaional affairs for the British and international press, including The Spectator, The Guardian, The Mail on Sunday, The Times, Die Welt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford and was awarded the post-doctoral degree habilitation in France in 2003. He has taught philosophy and politics at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris and at the University St Pius V in Rome.