How the US, under Trump, has led the charge to weaken international rule of law

In the past, the US made great contributions to the world. Today, Trump seeks to ‘make America great again’ by destroying law and order at the international community’s expense. Sadly, American interests are likely to continue to win out

Xu Xiaobing

Published: 3:00am, 30 Jun 2020

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International politics has always been a dominant factor in determining the adoption, application, interpretation, modification or violation of international law. For legal realists, the law is thus viewed as secondary to politics.

To the dismay of idealists who value the role of international law and institutions, this assessment may never lose its validity. History has repeatedly encountered dark hours when politics – illegal use of force, abuse of power, unwarranted interference and so on – subdues the rule of law. In worst-case scenarios such as the two world wars, the international system crumbled.

We do not live in a lawless world today, but there is mounting evidence that we are once again in a period of less-effective international rule of law. We are witnessing a reckless offensive against international law and order, launched by the United States, the world’s remaining superpower, on a historic scale.

Start with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which US President Donald Trump reminded us of recently. The whole world knew long ago that the US fabricated lies that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in violation of UN resolutions.

But 17 years after the US-led “liberal” states including Britain, Australia, Poland and Denmark invaded Iraq without the UN Security Council’s authorisation, none has apologised for the illegitimate war against a sovereign state that killed thousands of civilians and produced millions of refugees and a state of disrepair for decades.

Even Trump finally admitted this by accusing former secretary of state Colin Powell of getting “the weapons of mass destruction” totally wrong.

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The illegitimate Iraq war merely opened Pandora’s box. Since then, the US has led its allies in interfering in the internal affairs of many sovereign states around the globe in the name of promoting human rights and democracy.

Libya and Syria are two of the worst cases, and they have fallen into deep chaos as a result. Millions have been wounded, died or fled, which in turn has led to an unprecedented refugee crisis in Europe.

The rest of the world has long called out: aren’t the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in member states’ internal affairs written into the UN Charter? But for the US and its liberal interventionists, the politics of human rights and democracy prevail over basic principles of international law, especially when such politics serve their agenda.

Consequently, while China’s success in defeating terrorism and extremists in Xinjiang is portrayed as a violation of Uygur human rights, the US’ assassination of Iranian major general Qassem Soleimani is part of its fight against terrorism.

The riots in Hong Kong, which have resembled scenes from a typical colour revolution, were hailed as “a beautiful sight to behold” by US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

When China, facing a crisis of national security and unity, defended itself with the announcement of a new national security law for Hong Kong, the US and its allies immediately accused Beijing of undermining the principle of “one country, two systems”.

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At the multilateral level, the US has crippled the normal functioning of the World Trade Organisation by paralysing its appellate body. In its dealings with UN organisations, the US is severely in arrears with its membership dues. It has blocked other members – Russia and Iran in particular – from taking part in UN conferences and events in New York and threatened to quit the Universal Postal Union.

It even announced sanctions against the International Criminal Court for investigating the alleged violation of international humanitarian law by US troops in Afghanistan.

Furthermore, the US has refused to accede to several important treaties, such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and unilaterally withdrawn from other international treaties and organisations in recent years.

These include the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris climate agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the Open Skies treaty, the UN Global Compact for Migration, the UN Human Rights Council and Unesco.

Most disgracefully, after its failure to control Covid-19 at home, the US attacked the World Health Organisation’s handling of the pandemic, suspended its funding and eventually terminated relations. After the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning the continuing racially discriminatory and violent practices by law enforcement agencies against black people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded by describing the council as “hypocritical”.

The US is changing beyond recognition. In the past, it made great contributions to the world in designing and building a new international order out of the ruins of World War II.

Today, Trump’s “America first” doctrine seeks to make his nation great again by destroying that order at the international community’s expense. Sadly, American interests are likely to continue to win out and weaken international law and order, with no end in sight.

The international legal community should be on alert. Only with a solid defence of international law and principled practice can we hope to reverse this destructive trend.

Dr Xu Xiaobing is associate professor of law at Shanghai Jiao Tong University KoGuan Law School

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