Sixty years after the Nuremberg trials made legal history by finding individuals responsible for the second world war, a select group of diplomats, lawyers and activists are close to another breakthrough: the universal criminalisation of aggression between states.

Last week, about 150 experts met in the basement of the United Nations to discuss how to place the "crime of aggression" under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, and - in spite of the odds - many believe they might succeed.