Nick Rostow Is Soft on IL: Signs of a Republican Fissure?

Nicholas Rostow has an interesting piece in the latest American Interest on why the next Administration should come around to international law (“Law Abiding: Restoring America’s Global Reputation,” teaser here but otherwise by subscription only). He argues that law — including international law! — “define who an American is,” and for that reason the US “cannot long sustain foreign policies at odds with international law.” It’s a shot at the Bolton wing of the Republican Party. “Some voices proclaimed that [international] law does not really exist, that it is feckless admonishment, [and] cannot be enforced…. the United States, on the contrary, has always held that such law does exist and that it is vital to America’s survival.” Bush administration policies in his view “have given the United States and international legal black eye.” Rostow argues for giving terror detainees Geneva Convention coverage, at least for purposes of POW determinations; for pushing the Law of the Sea Treaty; and for engaging the ICC, Kyoto, and landmines processes.

There’s nothing substantively new here, but I can’t think of any other examples of a Republican with law/foreign-policy credentials openly embracing IL, if only in a measured way (he’s only ready to set up a pilot ICC alternative under UNSC control, for instance). (Rostow has held a number of legal positions in Republican administrations: as legal adviser to the national security adviser in Bush I, pre-Bolton legal counsel to USUN in Bush II, special assistant to Abe Sofaer, and as counsel to the Tower Commission. He’s now general counsel to SUNY.)

If it comes down to a two-way McCain-Huckabee contest for the nomination, might international law become a more prominent campaign issue? Huckabee looks to be trolling for the black helicopter vote where McCain seems to understand the reality of international law. And if the latter by some slight chance ends up in the White House, this piece might be Rostow’s opening bid to fill John Bellinger’s shoes as State Department Legal Adviser.