The conflict between global governance and U.S. constitutional democracy is the subject of a new book by John Fonte, who visited Heritage last week to talk about the numerous and well-funded efforts to undermine American sovereignty. The book, “Sovereignty or Submission,” chronicles in details the global governance movement. Fonte, a senior fellow and director at the Hudson Institute’s Center for American Common Culture, joined Heritage’s Steven Groves for an interview with The Daily Caller. They discuss the role of transnationalists, who is funding their agenda and what Americans can do …
Ever since the raid last month that killed Osama Bin Laden, the question of whether the US violated Pakistani sovereignty keeps on coming up. Heritage asked renowned international law scholar Jeremy Rabkin to address the matter. Did the United States violate Pakistan’s sovereignty when it raided Osama bin Laden’s lair in Abbottabad? At first blush, that might seem hard to deny: if a sovereign state can’t exclude outside military intervention, what’s left of sovereignty? But, in fact, the claim to sovereignty involves responsibilities as well as rights. The political thinkers who …
Why on earth are British taxpayers being forced to fund European Union lobbying for policy campaigns in the United States? Furthermore, why is the EU directly interfering in domestic political debates in America, and so far without Congressional oversight? As the research detailed below demonstrates, the EU’s European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) is spending millions of Euros on US-based campaigns against the death penalty. An extraordinary development. The EIDHR project list for 2009 (the latest year for which a full itemised list is given), unearthed by my …
Today the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the connection between an international convention to eliminate chemical weapons and a suburban Philadelphia love triangle. Remarkably, the first and apparently only person prosecuted under the United States’ implementation of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention is Carol Anne Bond, a Lansdale, Pennsylvania, woman who used chemical irritants to cause a slight burn on the thumb of Bond’s formerly close friend after the friend bore Bond’s husband’s love-child. Today the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case (Bond v. United States). Neither Bond …
We all know the stories about George Washington. He chopped down a cherry tree, but did not lie about it. He wore wooden teeth and handwrote rules of civility. But cherry trees and wooden teeth do not capture the actual Washington. His greatest legacy lies in resisting the lure of political power. The War for Independence presented several opportunities for Washington to usurp political power. In 1776 and 1777, Washington received virtually unlimited authority to wage war against the British, but promptly returned these extensive grants when the crises ended. …
The current language surrounding American foreign policy (and the New START Treaty in particular) is diplomatic and courteous. It is also dangerously ambiguous about American sovereignty. As Steven Groves explains in the latest installment of the Understanding America series, “Sovereignty is a simple idea: the United States is an independent nation, governed by the American people, that controls its own affairs.” In “Why Does Sovereignty Matter to America”, Groves outlines the fundamental role of sovereignty in American history, and analyzes the current misunderstanding (some would say rejection) of this important …
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has today announced the appointment of more than two dozen new Ambassadors who will serve under the blue and gold flag of the European Union rather than their national colors. However, she should be keeping a closer eye on her existing corps. Having been outmaneuvered by European Commission president José Manuel Barroso in the appointment of his friend, João Vale de Almeida to the post of EU Ambassador to the United States, it is nevertheless still her responsibility to keep Almeida in line. His …
One common way of thinking about foreign policy is that it exists in its own world, separate from domestic policy or the first principles on which a nation is founded. According to this view , the job of the foreign policy expert is to deal dispassionately with the world as it is, making no distinction between democracies and dictatorships, and shaping policy solely by cold-hearted consideration of the national interest. The Heritage Foundation has never accepted this way of thinking. It believes that the first principles on which the United …
CHICAGO – Protect America Month 2010, the Heritage Foundation’s annual series of events and publications aimed at highlighting key national security issues and promoting sensible defense and homeland security policies, hit the road today with a special address in Chicago by former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. Ambassador Bolton began his remarks by explaining why he refers to President Obama as a “post-American” president. The first problem, he argued, is that President Obama doesn’t care about national security. It is not where his attention is focused. The …
Live Video streaming by Ustream The vital concept of national sovereignty is under assault around the globe in virtually every realm of public policy. Join us from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM eastern as Ambassador John R. Bolton speaks at The Heritage Foundation about protecting U.S. sovereignty in the Age of Obama. Watch the streaming video.
