The solid multilateral basis for Biden to promote the rule of law
Strengthening the rule of law around the world should surely rank as an important priority for the incoming Biden Administration. To be fair, given the events of the past four years, the United States may seem an unlikely champion of the cause. Yet, the United States has a substantial legacy supporting the rule of law at home and abroad. If the US can take credible steps to address its rule of law regression under President Trump, it can make significant positive contributions towards rehabilitating the notion on the international stage to advance policy aims of human rights, democratization, development, sustainability, and cultivating stable and fair investment climates.
Although not widely recognized, a crucial basis for renewing and reinforcing fundamental values such as human rights and democracy on the international stage already exists. It is grounded in commitments to rule of law made in the United Nations with substantial US backing over the past two decades.
While some may question the hypocrisy of the US championing rule of law at the international level, prior to the Trump Administration, the United States played a key role in situating the rule of law firmly at the center of the multilateral agenda. These efforts, initiated by the George W Bush Administration and continued under the Obama…
