Countervailing U.S. Ideology Toward The ICC: American Exceptionalism, Neoconservativism And Protecting America's Interests Abroad

Chapter Summary

The motives of the Bush administration to subvert the International Criminal Court (ICC) were underscored by basic tenets of political philosophy sounding in "American exceptionalism", which was advanced in a particularly caustic form by adherents of neoconservativism. Central to neoconservative philosophy are measures directed at maintaining U.S. military and economic supremacy abroad in order, some allege, to support U.S. consumption at unsustainable levels. Neoconservativism subscribes to massive increases in military spending, and in greatly expanding the American sphere of influence politically, economically and strategically. Under a radical neoconservative interpretation, American exceptionalism has come to justify an international double standard where the U.S. holds a superior position among states and will not be bound by international law unless it serves the American interests. Such ideology fundamentally clashes with the transparency and oversight functions of the ICC, to say nothing of the principles of fundamental fairness.

Keywords: American exceptionalism; International Criminal Court (ICC); neoconservativism; U.S. ideology