Before weighing in on U.S. elections, I wanted to follow-up on Chris Borgen's helpful earlier posts (see links below) on the battle over the U.N. Security Council seat to note the final results of that Tuesday election. In the 48th round of voting, Panama decisively won the seat. I include an International Herald Tribune story on the final...
Steve Clemons thinks that among other things we’ll see the CIA’s secret detention centers be de-funded “for sure” and that we’ll see a “modern version of public hangings” in the form of oversight hearings on Iraq-related issues. Roger similarly suggests below that there will be sharp confrontation on executive power. I wonder. Executive power and detainee treatment...
Although this was an unusually foreign policy-focused congressional midterm election here in the States, international trade was not on any candidate's radar screen. Still, one early indicator of the new Congress' internationalist temperamant will be whether it swiftly approves Vietnam's accession to the WTO. Although the WTO General Council formally approved Vietnam's application for membership yesterday, the U.S....
So how will the mid-term elections affect international relations? Here are my predictions of ten things to look for in the next two years: 1. House investigations on the war in Iraq. 2. House spending limits on the war in Iraq. 3. Cabinet level changes. 4. Democratic infighting about the road ahead in Iraq. 5. Trade Promotion...
The WaPo story here. As the International Criminal Court shows itself to be a responsible institution (note the report that prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has rejected several hundred petitions to initiate actions against US officials), the policy fear factor inevitably dissipates, and the possible strategic benefits for the US come into clearer focus. But how long will it take to overcome...
As election day proceeds apace in the United States, it’s worth turning our gaze southward to note that the OAS’s Electoral Observation Mission has declared that the November 5, 2006 Nicaraguan elections were “peaceful and orderly, had a massive turnout and took place in accordance with the law.” It found an average citizen participation of approximately 70%, with only...
The AP has a story today on Saddam's pending appeal that implies very strongly that Saddam will be executed before the Anfal trial is completed:If the nine-judge appeals panel upholds the death sentences, they could be ready for signing early next year, according to a schedule laid out Monday by chief prosecutor Jaafar Moussawi. Moussawi said the Iraqi High Tribunal must...
In other Saddam news, statements by the Iraqi government earlier today support my suspicion that it believes quickly executing Saddam will help quell the insurgency:If the final verdict confirms Saddam’s guilt, he will be executed within 30 days, and some powerful Iraqi voices are calling for the judges not to dawdle. ‘We strongly feel that every day he lives is not...
Christopher Hitchens captures here exactly why the death penalty is a mistake in the case of Saddam Hussein. I have been surprised throughout the process at the IST how many American human rights lawyers have worked for and with the tribunal, knowing that death by hanging was a likely outcome. Surely, if there is one "international norm" that...
I also wanted to add a brief perspective on the Hussein decision as an example of the interrelationship of domestic and international law and politics. The verdict likely will have little impact on most voters’ perspectives, but the tight and arguably tightening polls--compare the various polls on pollingreport.com--suggest that even tiny shifts might make a difference. Whether or...
From the October 3, 2000, Bush-Gore presidential debate:MODERATOR: New question. How would you go about as president deciding when it was in the national interest to use U.S. force, generally? BUSH: Well, if it's in our vital national interest, and that means whether our territory is threatened or people could be harmed, whether or not the alliances are -- our...
I will have more to say when the IHT's written decision is available, but here are a few quick thoughts on Saddam's conviction. First, until this morning, I did not believe that the U.S. had orchestrated the timing of the verdict. But then I learned that the written decision will not be released until Thursday "for technical reasons." So...
