Challenging the Global Governance of Human Rights: The United States and the International Criminal Court.

This paper focuses on the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an instrument for the global enforcement of international human rights law and the US opposition to it. It argues that the ICC is a step away from the classic regime of state sovereignty towards the integration of a broader framework of global governance and law. The article looks at one of the major challenges to such global enforcement of human rights by looking at the opposition of the United States against the Court. It analyses the reasons for the US opposition which are mainly based on the ICC's jurisdiction and criticisms that the Court does not recognise the 'special' role the US plays as only remaining superpower. The US made a number of attempts to undermine the ICC, based on a unilateralist focus on national interests and national law enforcement. More recent events, however, suggest that the US is increasingly adopting a more practical approach towards the ICC by acknowledging the Court's role in the overall system of justice. The paper argues that the initial hostility and actions taken to undermine the ICC were based on a belief that the US could prevent the Court from coming into existence. However, so far the ICC has proved to be too strong mainly due to a large number of developments preceding its creation that provided strong foundation on which the ICC is built. This has led to the US adopting a more pragmatic approach towards the Court. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]