Council Comments
Diane Marie Amann
Visiting Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
Professor of Law, University of California, Davis, School of Law

In the realm of foreign affairs, U.S. Presidents have tended to call for bold strokes promising quick results. That approach seldom makes either international law or human rights a priority. Yet expediency does not guarantee success; to the contrary, measures taken abroad, in reliance on what the late historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. derided as an "American 'know-how'" ignorant of cultural complexity, have failed. At times they increased constraints on liberty and undermined law. To avoid repeating such errors, the next administration should pursue a two-pronged strategy. The first prong would operate overseas. Existing international law enforcement mechanisms must be engaged and strengthened; resort to innovation should come only if those mechanisms fail despite genuine efforts at reinforcement. The new administration also should work to strengthen means for enforcement within nation-states, as they remain the entities with initial responsibility to protect individuals subject to their jurisdiction. That fact points to the second prong, which would operate at home. The United States must redouble its commitment to the liberty and security of each person, paying attention not only to the need to reform antiterrorism policies adopted since September 11, 2001, but also to the dire need to reduce street violence and steep rates of imprisonment, inequalities in income and among racial and other groups, and inadequacies in health care, education, and employment. In addressing persistent domestic problems as well as more recent deviations from the rule of law, the administration would fortify the U.S. claim to leadership on international law and human rights.