Council on Foreign Relations: Global Implications of Justice Kennedy’s Retirement
US Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy had a lead role in sculpting a positive relationship between the United States and international law over his tenure. His replacement promises to be more conservative, with Donald Trump aiming to appoint a successor before midterm elections. “Foreign relations law,” regarding the place of international law in US jurisprudence, is a field that attracts intense debate. The Founding Fathers were generally in favor of respecting international law, but since the end of the Cold War, legal scholars known as “new sovereigntists” have entered the debate, maintaining that international law is a threat to independence. Kennedy had rejected this conservative notion and urged US respect for international legal obligations. The relationship between US and international law is generally balanced, and “an open-minded approach could restore U.S. leadership in shaping international law,” writes Stewart Patrick for the Council of Foreign Relations. “Contrary to the Trump administration’s assumptions, American internationalism and American independence are fully compatible.” – YaleGlobal
Council on Foreign Relations: Global Implications of Justice Kennedy’s Retirement
The US role in applying international law could erode with the likely conservative replacement of Supreme Court Justice Kennedy
Monday, July 2, 2018
Read the article from the Council on Foreign Relations about the relationship between US and international law.
Stewart M. Patrick is James H. Binger senior fellow in global governance and director of the International Institutions and Global Governance (IIGG) Program at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His areas of expertise include multilateral cooperation on global issues; U.S. policy toward international institutions, including the United Nations; and the challenges posed by fragile and post–conflict states. Patrick is the author of The Sovereignty Wars: Reconciling America with the World, as well as Weak Links: Fragile States, Global Threats, and International Security. He also writes the blog, The Internationalist.
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