The Case for International Law

Author

Harold Hongju Koh, Michael Doyle

Content Type

Journal Article

Journal

Foreign Affairs

Volume

92

Issue Number

6

Publication Date

November/December 2013

Institution

Council on Foreign Relations

Abstract

In “The War of Law” (July/August 2013), Jon Kyl, Douglas Feith, and John Fonte purport to explain the state of international law and how it “undermines democratic sovereignty.” Their portrayal, however, hardly rises above caricature. Their legal prescriptions ignore constitutional history and, if followed, would drastically weaken U.S. foreign policy. The authors may not like the contemporary practice of international law, but their own ideas are painfully antiquated, better suited to an insular nineteenth-century nation than the great power the United States has become.

Topic

Foreign Policy, International Law, Law

Political Geography

United States