Rabkin opened Friday's session in the Babbott Room with a lecture entitled "From the Law of Nations to Global Governance-Is the U.S. Constitution Getting Lost Along the Way?" Rabkin focused much of his talk on delineating why the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a poorly conceived institution. The ICC is a super-national court with the ability to judge individuals who have committed violent crimes against humanity independent of any national courts and would be the final authority on any matter that it decided was in its purview. This body finds its most ardent support among European countries.
"If America were to accept this court, it would undermine the Bill of Rights ... It would be a very big change if we were to say that 'we are no longer the United States, a sovereign entity, but [accountable to] a larger political organization,'" said Rabkin.
Another flaw of the ICC that Rabkin noted was its inability to enforce or to be held accountable for any of its own decisions, according to Rabkin. However, Rabkin observed that the ICC's lack of accountability might allow it to pursue political targets that no individual nation would dare go after, such as the possibility of indicting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for war crimes. Sharon could not be arrested in Israel, but, if indicted, he would be unable to travel to most European countries.
While Rabkin is very much opposed to this new trend of global governance, he made it clear that his viewpoint does not preclude him from making judgments in universal terms. "I don't think it is pointless or irrelevant to talk about human rights and human nature in universal terms," said Rabkin. "But consent should be manifested in different subsets of humanity."
"He pointed out the general hypocrisy of having an international court without having any principles behind it," said Michael Petrino '68, the Committee's treasurer. "Also, without the ability to enforce the law, how effective can it really be?"
Rabkin's talk also resonated with Eric Osborne '04. "I agree with [Rabkin] that Europeans, unable to affect the world through power, are trying to bind the U.S. through 'international law,'" said Osborne. "I sincerely hope that our administration realizes this and keeps us out of useless, ineffectual and indeed counterproductive organizations such as the ICC."
Rabkin gave his first lecture, entitled "Natural Rights and Natural Sovereignty" this past Thursday. This lecture marked the launching of the student committee for the American Founding.
"The student committee for the American Founding is an organization which takes seriously the questions posed at the American Founding," said Mike Petrino '03, a founding member of the student committee. "We are interested in seeing this thought preserved and furthered here at Amherst ... We would like to establish ourselves as a gathering of minds interested in these intellectual issues rather than in the politics of parties, and we would encourage people of all parties to attend our events."
Rabkin's last speaking engagement at Amherst came on Saturday when he gave a talk entitled "The World After September 11th."
In addition to Rabkin, the Committee sponsored talks from Midge Decter, author of "An Old Wives Tale"; legal scholar David Forte; Daniel Ritchie '78; Bethal College Professor of English Steven Hayward; and Kenyon College Professor of Political Science Pamela Jensen.
The Committee for the American Founding was created by Professor of Political Science Hadley Arkes with the purpose of bringing scholars to speak on the natural rights teachings of Abraham Lincoln and the Founding Fathers.
The Committee generally hosts functions at the College over weekends in both October and April, in addition to another event in Washington, D.C. in January.