Over on Jurist, Mary Ellen O’Connell has an interesting piece on the role that President Obama might have in restoring US faith in international law. O’Connell argues that the decline in US respect for international law is primarily attributable to Hans Morgenthau, his realist approach to international relations, and the impact that his students have had on US policy-making. Interestingly, O’Connell argues that political science and law have never recovered from this and recent initiatives have instead emphasised human rights law rather than general international law. If it is any comfort, it appears that the situation in many European law schools is very much the same as general public international law and public law curricula are being squeezed by human rights.
Filed under: History of International Law, Human Rights, Public International Law
The U.S. should be goverened by U.S. Law not European or International law. There, of course, can be cooperation but our laws have to prevail for our citizens.