David Kay Quotes
Many global solutions still require the binding force and permanence that only treaties can provide.
David Kay, Legal Scholar, U.S. State Department Official, Director of UCLA’s International Human Rights Program, “U. S. Foreign Policy Without Treaties—Or The Senate”, Foreign Affairs, September – October 2013
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Those environmentalists who take this view do not give credence to other alternatives. For example, the same argument of environmental decision-making could logically justify one superpower nation taking over the government of all others on the planet for environmental matters. Another possibility is that the existing mechanisms and the UN are sufficient if the major powers reach agreement. Another is that science and technology will provide solutions.
Because the Senate has not ratified some international treaties, the United States does not participate in some international efforts to create international rules and law. The reason for non-ratification is generally given as potential loss of American sovereignty. At the same time, we spend billions of dollars trying to influence and shape the world along free market, democratic lines, and then are not able to participate in some of the most important forums where we could do just that. It is a constant dilemma and the Senate goes both ways depending on its mood, public opinion at the time and the political composition of the Senate. See {637031} and {637032}.
The Republican controlled Senate had turned down the ratification of the League of Nations presented by Democratic President Wilson, and looked like they would turn down any international treaty even if presented by a Republican President. This statement allowed the treaty ratification by only a few votes. However, after that the Senate turned down our participation in the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague. See {640099}.
David A. Kay (born c. 1940) is a weapons expert, political commentator, and senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. He is best known for his time as United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector following the first Gulf War and for leading of the Iraq Survey Group's search for weapons of mass destruction following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Upon presentation of the Group's finding that there had been significant errors in pre-war intelligence concerning Iraq's weapons programs, Kay resigned. The ensuing controversy served as impetus for the formation of the Iraq Intelligence Commission.
