" title="External link to: "(external)_Law and The Lone Superpower: Rebuilding a Transatlantic Consensus on International Law_, Atlantic Council of the United States, April 2007":http://www.acus.org/docs/070417_Law%20_&%20_The_Lone_Superpower.pdf
" class="external">Time For a Transatlantic Consensus on International Law
William H. Taft and Frances G. Burwell from the Atlantic Council advise the EU and US to coordinate their positions before the ICC review conference in 2009. The transatlantic partners must set an example for the rest of the world.
With the review conference on the International Criminal Court (ICC) coming up in 2009, a concerted transatlantic effort to build global consensus on international law is more urgent than ever. The US and Europe have long had diverse stances on international law. Yet attributing these differences to the unilateralist vs. multilateralist approach discounts important underlying reasons, say William H. Taft and Frances G. Burwell from the Atlantic Council of the United States. Many transatlantic differences are based on diverging conceptions about the future role of international law. While Europeans see law as a way to resolve international problems between and within states, the United States is careful to protect its interests as a superpower. The US retreat from several multilateral commitments (e.g. ICC, Convention of the Law of the Seas, Ottawa Convention to ban anti-personnel mines) in the 1990s caused dismay in Europe.
Taft and Burwell recommend that the US show commitment to international law in the following ways:
- Join at least one multilateral agreement to improve its reputation as a leader in the international legal field
- Show a willingness to work with the ICC under the right circumstances
- Review its own legal system’s adherence to the Rome Statute on crime
The EU and the US can help to build a global consensus together. Both should:
- Issue a joint declaration with a commitment to international law and to transatlantic dialogue aimed at consensus-building
- Work together to ensure the implementation of UN reform
- Set an example for the world by respecting the UN Charter and other legal instruments
- Launch a program of legal assistance to bolster rule of law worldwide
- Tone down the more extreme positions on both sides of the Atlantic
- Tighten definition of crimes in the ICC statute
- Build consensus on accountability and transparency in international institutions, pre-emptive action on WMD, the use of international tribunals and the detention of enemy combatants.
