The U.S. and the International Criminal Court

With the refusal to sign the International Criminal Court Treaty after refusing to sign the Land Mine Treaty, the U.S. failed to exercise its role as the moral leader of the world, the natural complement to its political and economical leadership.

It is a unique interpretation of the role of a superpower: on one hand the U.S. affirms its own rights, on the other it frees itself of duties if they don't coincide with national interests.

This so-called "theory of vital interests" risks being a boomerang for U.S. credibility and puts the U.S. on a collision course with its historical and more natural allies.

The boomerang effect, particularly notable in the image it created of the U.S., created an unprecedented diplomatic blunder at the ICC conference.

A permanent court will become not only a factor of justice, but a deterrent that would be supported, not boycotted by those who feel like they are the world's police.

-- La Republica, Rome