Pacts Americana?
What can the incoming Democratic Congress do to help reverse the steep erosion of America’s standing abroad, particularly the impression that the United States has disengaged from global problem-solving? Though the President dominates foreign policy, the Senate can make an impact in one significant area: by giving the required two-thirds majority vote to approve a raft of treaties awaiting action.
The Senate has before it more than two dozen treaties submitted for approval by President Bush and his predecessors — some, in fact, were negotiated as long ago as the Eisenhower administration. These agreements are not like the Kyoto Protocol on climate change or the statute that established the International Criminal Court, which are too controversial even to be transmitted to the Senate.… Seguir leyendo »