Overview
American reluctance to join the International Criminal Court illuminates important trends in international security and a central dilemma facing U.S. Foreign policy in the 21st century. The ICC will prosecute individuals who commit egregious international human rights violations such as genocide. The Court is a logical culmination of the global trends toward expanding human rights and creating international institutions. The U.S., which fostered these trends because they served American national interests, initially championed the creation of an ICC. The Court fundamentally represents the triumph of American values in the international arena. Yet the United States now opposes the ICC for fear of constraints upon America's ability to use force to protect its national interests. The principal national security and constitutional objections to the Court, which the volume explores in detail, inflate the potential risks inherent in joining the ICC. More fundamentally, they reflect a belief in American exceptionalism that is unsustainable in today's world. Court opponents also underestimate the growing salience of international norms and institutions in addressing emerging threats to U.S. national interests. The misguided assessments that buttress opposition to the ICC threaten to undermine American leadership and security in the 21st century more gravely than could any international institution.
Full Product Details
Author: Sarah B. Sewall ,
Carl Kaysen ,
Gary J. Bass ,
Bartram S. Brown
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Dimensions:
Width: 16.30cm
, Height: 2.20cm
, Length: 22.30cm
Weight: 0.426kg
ISBN: 9780742501355
ISBN 10: 0742501353
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 28 August 2000
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.
Reviews
Whether the International Criminal Court is seen as a necessary, inevitable instrument for justice and peace in our world, or a cleverly designed mechansim for the destruction of national sovereignty--especially the sovereignty of the United States--this book needs to be read by political and military leaders alike. Future military operations will increasingly involve coalitions, non-governmental agencies, non-national armed forces, and international structures. As a result, our future national military strategy will be confronted increasingly with theoretical and practical issues of national sovereignty vs. international governance. The creation of the ICC brings these issues into sharp focus. America's political and military leaders need to explore in detail how an international entity such as the ICC might impact on our legitimate national interests. This book will help.--Lt. Gen. Walter F. Ulmer
authored an article focusing on Iraq, book listed in author credit--Sarah Sewell Chronicle Of Higher Education
Author Information
Sarah B. Sewall is projects director at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard's JFK School of Government. Carl Kaysen is David W. Skinner Professor of Political Economy, Emeritus, at Massachussetts Institute of Technology.
