International Law and Order

Listen / Download

You’re either on the bus or you’re off it: a mantra for any revolution. And in the revolution towards international justice, the US is decidedly off the bus. While all of Europe is behind the newly created International Criminal Court, along with Asian allies, mideast friends and Latin American compadres, President George Bush and partners in the Senate are dead set against ratifying a legal agreement that might mean overseas prosecution of American soldiers, potentially American leaders.

Yesterday, the final signatures were set, and whether or not the U.S. joins up, the court will start this summer. And at a time when international cooperation is so important to the President, it’s a moment of US legal isolationism.

Guests:

Lee Casey, attorney with Baker and Hostetler, formerly with Reagan and first Bush Administration;Michael Scharf, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for International Law and Policy at Neww England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts

Peter Ford, senior European correspondent for the Christian Science Monior.