Rule of Power or Rule of Law?: An Assessment of U.S. Policies and Actions Regarding Security-Related Treaties

by Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) and Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP); edited by Nicole Deller, Arjun Makhijani, and John Burroughs

Publisher: The Apex Press

Year Published: 2003

Pages: 263 pp.

Binding: Paperback

ISBN: 1891843176

"A brilliantly conceived and executed study that documents unflinchingly the dangerous descent of the U.S. government into the bottomless pit of global lawlessness. It also illuminates the benefits for citizens and the world of an alternate law-guided approach based on negotiated treaty regimes." – Richard Falk, Professor of International Law and Practice, Princeton University

"This thoughtful book carefully examines the current disturbing U.S. approach to many multilateral treaties. It is essential reading for diplomats, policymakers and everyone else who is interested in global security as it relates to nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, landmines, global warming, and international justice." – Pierre Schori, Swedish Ambassador to the UN

"This book provides a comprehensive overview of how, at a time when Americans are keenly aware of international threats to peace and security, the United States is systematically undermining the International Criminal Court and other mechanisms that would reduce those threats." – Jayne Stoyles, former Program Director, NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Executive Summary

An Overview of U.S. Policies Toward the International Legal System

Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT)

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)

Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) and the BWC Protocol

Mine Ban Treaty

UN Framework Convention on Climate Control (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Treaties and Global Security

Chapter 1. An Overview of U.S. Policies Toward the International Legal System

I. Making International Law

A. What Is International Law?

B. The Process of Treaty Making

II. Despite Its Role as Progenitor of Rule of Law Principles, U.S. Regard for International Law Is Ambivalent at Best

A. The United Nations and The League of Nations

B. U.S. Ambivalence Toward the International Law of Human Rights

C. U.S. Relationship with the International Court of Justice

D. U.S. Response to Terrorism after 9/11

III. Recurrent Themes of U.S. Treaty Policy

A. Disregard of Obligations After Ratification

B. U.S. Role in Shaping the Terms of Agreements Only to Reject Them

Chapter 2. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

I. Origins

II. Recent Developments

III. Assessment of Compliance with NPT Nonproliferation and Disarmament Obligations

A. US-Russian Strategic Arms Reductions

B. Diminishing Role for Nuclear Weapons in Security Policies

C. US-Russian Non-Strategic Arms Reductions

D. Missile Defenses

E. Nuclear Testing

F. Fissile Materials Accounting, Control and Disposition

G. Nuclear Disarmament in General

IV. Conclusion

Chapter 3. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

I. Background

II. The CTBT and Its Current Status

III. The U.S. Senate's Rejection of CTBT Ratification

IV. Aftermath of the Signing of the CTBT and Its Rejection by the U.S. Senate

V. Compliance Status

Chapter 4. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty

I. Background

II. Analysis of the U.S. Notice of Withdrawal from the ABM Treaty

Chapter 5. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC)

I. Background

II. U.S. Ratification and Implementation of the CWC

A. Difficulties In Senate Approval of the CWC

B. U.S. Exceptionalism in Ratification of the CWC

III. Effects of U.S. Non-Compliance

IV. Failure to Use the Challenge Inspection Mechanism

V. The Legacy of the CWC

Chapter 6. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BWC) and the Draft Protocol to the BWC

I. Background: The Biological Weapons Convention

II. History of the Negotiations for a Protocol to Strengthen the BWC

III. Contents of the BWC Verification Protocol

A. Description of the Protocol

B. Criticisms of The Protocol and Responses

IV. U.S. Rejection and the End of the Protocol

A. The Bush Administration Policy Review

B. U.S. Decision to Scrap the Protocol

C. Reasons Given for the Decision to Oppose the Protocol Are Not Valid

D. Alternatives Proposed By the United States to Strengthen the BWC

E. The Suspension of Multilateral Efforts to Strengthen the Convention

V. The U.S. Biodefense Program

A. Recent U.S. Biodefense Research

B. The Legality of U.S. Biodefense Activities Under the BWC

VI. Conclusion

Chapter 7. Treaty Banning Antipersonnel Mines

I. Mine Ban Treaty Overview

II. Evolution of U.S. Policy

III. Current U.S. Policy

A. U.S. Justification: Smart Mines are Better

B. U.S. Justification: Mines are Critical in Defending Korea

C. Programs to Develop Alternatives to Antipersonnel Mines

D. U.S. Contribution To Global Demining Programs

IV. Impact of U.S. Mine Policy on the Implementation of the Treaty

Chapter 8. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol

I. The UNFCCC

II. The Kyoto Protocol

III. Status of the Kyoto Protocol and the U.S. Position

IV. Analysis of Compliance with the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol

Chapter 9. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

I. Background

II. Some Basics about the Rome Statute

III. "The ICC Is Indeed a Monster..."

A. U.S. Criticisms and Concerns

B. U.S. Participation in the ICC Negotiations

IV. Conclusion

Chapter 10. Treaties and Global Security

I. Introduction

II. The Role of Multilateral Treaties in Building Security

III. Treaty Compliance and Creation

IV. Enforcement

V. Echoes of Manifest Destiny

VI. Conclusion

Appendix A

Table 1: Ratification Status of Security-Related Treaties

Table 2: Ratification Status of Human Rights Treaties

Appendix B: Correspondence between Senator Tom Harkin and the U.S. Department of Energy

Appendix C: References

Contributors