Kofi Annan Urges Ratification of Rome Statute as U.S. Deliberates Its Position

On September 29, 2000, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appealed to U.S. lawyers to convince their skeptical nationals of the benefits of the embryonic International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, deliberations on the U.S. position towards the ICC continues in the context of opponents’ efforts to enact the American Service members Protection Act. 1. Annan’s Advocacy Speaking to a dinner of the advisory board of the Harvard Law School, Kofi Annan explained that, “(i)f states do not live by international law, they are condemned to live by the law of the jungle.” Annan also warned that even the greatest power on earth should realize that all power has its limits, both in time and space. Annan stated that power and prosperity were impossible without law and global progress required global laws...[more]