Scholars’ Circle – Iran War and War Crime Analysis – Insights on the Study Powerful People Lack Empathy – March 15, 2026

The Israeli/American War against Iran continues. On today’s panel we wrestle with the question of the war’s legality. In doing so, we reject US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s assertion that the US will fight this war with “no stupid rules of engagement,,” and his assertion that there will be “no politically correct wars,” and “no nation-building quagmire.” While he dismisses the importance of international laws on war, we do not. So, we ask, is this war legal? Are the tactics of Israeli and American militaries legal? Is Iran’s response aligned with international law? [ dur: 40 mins. ] Gabor Rona is Professor of Practice at Cardozo Law School. He is the author of Venezuelan Boat Attacks: Utterly Unprecedented and Patently Predictable , Is There a Way Out of the Non-International Armed Conflict Detention Dilemma? and State Responsibility to Respect, Protect and Fulfill Human Rights Obligations in Cyberspace . Jennifer Trahan is a Clinical Professor and Director of the Concentration in International Law and Human Rights at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. She is also Convenor of the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression, and is the author of Existing Legal Limits to the Use of the Veto in the Face of Atrocity Crimes . Her book forthcoming this spring is entitled: The Crime of Aggression and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Studies show that powerful people feel less empathy. What does that mean for societies? [ dur: 18mins. ] Michael Inzlicht is Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. He is co-author of Stereotype Threat: Theory, Process, and Application and co-author of the article Power Changes How the Brain Responds to Others . This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, War / Weapons, Middle East, Iran, Israel, humanity

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Scholars’ Circle – Iran War and War Crime Analysis – Insights on the Study Powerful People Lack Empathy – March 15, 2026 is an episode from The Scholars' Circle Interviews by The Scholars' Circle Interviews.

This episode is 58:01 long.

This episode was published on Mar 16, 2026.

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