Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T16:04:59.744Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - The US pursuit of legal security in substantive policy arenas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Shirley V. Scott
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney
Get access

Summary

For the United States, an essential element of the rule of law has always been, and still remains, law among nations. We’ve always respected our international legal obligations and we have led the world in developing new international law . . . . [W]e try and use our great power not to win glory or imperial gain for ourselves but to establish international rules and norms that we encourage others to follow.

Condoleezza Rice, 2005

The US pursuit of legal security has involved an offensive dimension, by which the United States has sought to influence the international law undertakings as well as the domestic laws and policies of other states, as well as a defensive dimension, by which the United States has sought to safeguard its own legal position against interference by others via law. The pursuit of legal security is not, however, an end in itself but an avenue by which the United States can pursue its policy objectives more broadly, including in the economic, military, environmental, and social fields. The vehicles for the pursuit of legal security in specific substantive areas of US policy have evolved during the life of the United States. US legislation itself has been used on occasion, as well as the bilateral treaty and, in recent years, resolutions of the Security Council. But it is the multilateral treaty that is most distinctive of the American age. The era of the multilateral treaty coincides with that of the United States as a great power; the first multilateral lawmaking conferences, multilateral treaties, and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century.

The United States used multilateral treaties in the immediate post-Second World War years to establish a system of international institutions, characterized by John Ikenberry as ‘liberal hegemony’. A number of the multilateral treaties most fundamental to the post-Second World War international order were drafted in the United States, with US interests in mind. Institutions that could be regarded as foundational to the post-war international order in whose design the US took a lead include the United Nations, GATT, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Type
Chapter
Information
International Law, US Power
The United States' Quest for Legal Security
, pp. 132 - 172
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Contemporary Practice of the United States 2006 100 American Journal of International Law214
Blockslaff, KlausThe Pipeline Affair of 1981/82: A Case History 1984 27 German Yearbook of International Law28Google Scholar
Vagts, DetlavThe Pipeline Controversy: An American Viewpoint 1984 27 German Yearbook of International Law38Google Scholar
Zaucha, Jerome J.The Soviet Pipeline Sanctions: The Extraterritorial Application of US Export Controls 1983 15 Law and Policy in International Business1169Google Scholar
Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 1996 35 International Legal Materials1273
Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act or Libertad Act of 1996 1996 35 International Legal Materials357
Hutton, JonDickson, BarnabasEndangered Species: Threatened Convention: The Past, Present and Future of CITESLondonEarthscan 2000 7Google Scholar
Sand, Peter H.Whither CITES? The Evolution of a Treaty Regime in the Borderland of Trade and Environment 1997 1 European Journal of International Law29CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hargrove, LawrencePost-Stockholm: Influencing National Environmental Law and Practice through International Law and Policy 1972 66 American Society of International Law Proceedings1Google Scholar
Dale D. MurphyThe Business Dynamics of Global Regulatory CompetitionVogel, DavidKagan, Robert A.Dynamics of Regulatory ChangeBerkeleyUniversity of California Press 2004 84Google Scholar
Kohn, Kathryn A.Balancing on the Brink of Extinction: The Endangered Species Act and Lessons for the FutureWashington, DCIsland Press 1991 14Google Scholar
George, Barbara CrutchfieldLacey, Kathleen A.Birmele, JuttaThe 1998 OECD Convention: An Impetus for Worldwide Changes in Attitudes towards Corruption in Business Transactions 2000 37 American Business Law Journal485CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Razzano, Frank C.Nelson, Travis P.The Expanding Criminalization of Transnational Bribery: Global Prosecution Necessitates Global Compliance 2008 42 International Law1259Google Scholar
Nash, MarianContemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law 1998 92 American Journal of International Law491Google Scholar
Spalding, Andrew BradyUnwitting Sanctions: Understanding Anti-bribery Legislation as Economic Sanctions against Emerging Markets 2010 62 Florida Law Review351Google Scholar
Vagts, DetlevReview of Michael Byers and Georg Nolte (eds.), 2004 98 American Journal of International Law214CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baer, George W.One Hundred Years of Sea Power: The US Navy 1890–1990Stanford University Press 1994Google Scholar
Grewe, Wilhelm G.History of the Law of Nations: World War I to World War IIEncyclopedia of Public International LawAmsterdamNorth Holland 1984 254Google Scholar
7 International Legal Materials8809 1968
11 International Legal Materials309 1972CrossRef
32 International Legal Materials800 1993
35 International Legal Materials1439 1996
Miles, Edward L.Nuclear Nonproliferation, 1945–1995Environmental Regime Effectiveness: Confronting Theory with EvidenceCambridge, MAMIT 2002 273Google Scholar
Thayer, Bradley A.The Causes of Nuclear Proliferation and the Utility of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime 1995 4 Security Studies463CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghose, ArundhatiMaintaining the Moratorium – a de facto CTBT 2006 2 Disarmament Forum23Google Scholar
Grotius, HugoThe Freedom of the SeasMagoffin, Ralph Van DemanNew YorkOxford University Press 1916Google Scholar
Zemanek, KarlWas Hugo Grotius Really in Favour of the Freedom of the Seas? 1999 1 Journal of the History of International Law48CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janis, Mark W.An Introduction to International LawGaithersburgAspen Law & Business 1999 212Google Scholar
Introduction. Claims made on behalf of the United States of America in AntarcticaBush, William M.Antarctica and International Law: A Collection of Inter-State and National DocumentsLondonOceana 1988 420Google Scholar
19 International Legal Materials860 1980
Peterson, M. J.The Use of Analogies in Developing Outer Space Law 1997 51 International Organization245CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickinson, Edwin DeWittThe Equality of States in International LawCambridge, MAHarvard University Press 1920 286CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenwick, Charles G.Notes on International Affairs: The Meeting of the Assembly of the League of Nations 1921 15 American Political Science Review94CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8 International Legal Materials679 1969CrossRef
Szasz, Paul C.Improving the International Legislative Process 1979 9 Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law519Google Scholar
Tijmes-Lhl, JaimeConsensus and Majority Voting in the WTO 2009 8 World Trade Review417CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maswood, S. JavedThe South in International Economic Regimes: Whose Globalization?HoundmillsPalgrave Macmillan 2006 170CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, Robert A.Sovereign Equality among States: The History of an IdeaUniversity of Toronto Press 1974 123Google Scholar
Meisler, StanleyUnited Nations: The First Fifty YearsNew YorkAtlantic Monthly 1995 11Google Scholar
Low, PatrickTrading Free: The GATT and U.S. Trade PolicyNew YorkTwentieth Century Fund 1993 233Google Scholar
Oxley, AlanThe Challenge of Free TradeNew YorkHarvester Wheatsheaf 1990 71Google Scholar
Gallagher, PeterThe First Ten Years of the WTO 1995–2005Cambridge University Press 2005 9Google Scholar
36 International Legal Materials1507 1997
Roberts, ShawnNo Exceptions, No Reservations, No Loopholes: The Campaign for the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, Transfer, and Use of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction 1998 9 Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy371Google Scholar
Biddle, StephenKlare, J.Wallis, J.Oelrich, I.Controlling Anti-personnel Landmines 1998 19 Contemporary Security Policy3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Capece, Christian M.The Ottawa Treaty and Its Impact on US Military Policy and Planning 1999 25 Brooklyn Journal of International Law183Google Scholar
Mustoe, Jodi PreusserThe 1997 Treaty to Ban the Use of Landmines: Was President Clinton’s Refusal to Become a Signatory Warranted? 1999 27 Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law541Google Scholar
Denza, EileenThe Relationship between International and National LawEvans, alcolm D.International LawOxford University Press 2006 423Google Scholar
Henkin, LouisForeign Affairs and the United States ConstitutionOxfordClarendon 1996 291CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wojcik, Mark E.Introductory Note to United States Supreme Court: Medellin v. Texas 2008 47 International Legal Materials281Google Scholar
Henkin, US Ratification of Human Rights Conventions: The Ghost of Senator Bricker 1995 89 American Journal of International Law341CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schou, NinaInstances of Human Rights RegimesFranck, T. M.Delegating State Powers: The Effect of Treaty Regimes on Democracy and SovereigntyNew YorkTransnational 2000 209Google Scholar
Lewis, Meredith KolskyThe Politics and Indirect Effects of Asymmetrical Bargaining Power in Free Trade AgreementsBroude, TomerBusch, Marc L.Porge, AmeliaThe Politics of International Economic LawCambridge University Press 2011 19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodliffe, JohnThe Peacetime Use of Foreign Military Installations under Modern International LawDordrechtMartinus Nijhoff 1992 15Google Scholar
Crook, John R.Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law 2009 103 American Journal of International Law102Google Scholar
Marion, GeorgeUS Military Bases and Empire 2002 53 Monthly Review10Google Scholar
Major, JohnPrize Possession: The United States and the Panama Canal 1903–1979Cambridge University Press 1993 309Google Scholar
16 International Legal Materials1022 1977
Drahos, PeterBITS and BIPS: Bilateralism in Intellectual Property 2002 5 Journal of World Intellectual Property791Google Scholar
Abbott, Frederick M.Intellectual Property Rights in World TradeGuzman, Andrew T.Sykes, Alan O.Research Handbook in International Economic LawCheltenhamEdward Elgar 2007 444Google Scholar
Trakman, Leon E.The Proliferation of Free Trade Agreements: Bane or Beauty? 2008 42 Journal of World Trade367Google Scholar
Bhagwati, Jagdish N.Termites in the Trading System: How Preferential Agreements undermine Free TradeOxford University Press 1993Google Scholar
Crump, LarryGlobal Trade Policy Development in a Two-Track System 2006 9 Journal of International Economic Law487CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, Jonathan B.Seeking Biosecurity without Verification: The New US Strategy on Biothreats 2010 Arms Control Todaywww.armscontrol.org/act/2010_01-02/TuckerGoogle Scholar
Keefer, ScottInternational Control of Biological Weapons 1999 6 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law107Google Scholar
Luck, Edward C.UN Security Council: Practice and PromiseLondonRoutledge 2006 103Google Scholar
Beckman, Robert C.International Responses to Combat Maritime TerrorismRamraj, V. V.Hor, M.Roach, K.Global Anti-terrorism Law and PolicyCambridge University Press 2005 252Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×