Obama and International Law

Now that he’s officially declared, what do we know about where Barack Obama stands on international law? Not much, of course, given his limited legislative experience. (Anyone know if he took any IL courses at Harvard Law?) Here is his report card from various advocacy groups with IL-related agendas (see also this). Ivo Daalder takes Obama as espousing a constructive strain of American exceptionalism, which looks a lot like Harold Koh’s vision of putting exceptionalism to good work. Here’s how he put it in a campaign debate with Alan Keyes:

You know, all of us recognize and reserve the right of the United States to exercise its military power in the national interest and for our national security–but we also have to recognize that a lot of our power comes from our ideals, our belief in freedom, our belief in democracy, our belief in the ability to work things through in a manner that comports with whatever frameworks of international law that have been shaped.

He was pretty tough on the Military Commissions Act (see statement here), though he doesn’t exactly center the IL arguments. On the other hand, he’s said he would be open to launching surgical strikes against Iran if necessary to take out its nuclear-weapons development capabilities.

Obama is best known for his out-front position on Darfur. Perhaps more than any other indicator, having Samantha Power on his staff for a year might be the best way to situate him. Even Power predicts he would moderate as President (no ground troops in Sudan – see this excellent piece from the NY Sun), but her marker probably makes Obama the pro-IL candidate in the Democrat crowd, at least relative to Hillary. But one could hardly blame him if he didn’t make it a major component of his platform; support for IL as a general matter is unlikely to generate many votes, and risks losing many. It will take some time to live down John Kerry’s politically fateful endorsement of the ICC in the 2004 presidential debates.