IN BRIEF
• Immediately upon taking office, President Obama should make a high-profile
declaration of his commitment to follow and promote international law.
• The president should quickly issue executive orders to prevent the mistreatment of prisoners and launch a review of existing legal memos that may continue to guide U.S. policy.
• The president should announce the creation of a non-partisan task force on
international law comprised of the most respected American legal scholars and
statespersons and should be chaired by a person of impeccable integrity.
Anthony Clark Arend is Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University. On July 1, 2008, he became the Director of the Master of Science in Foreign Service in the Walsh School of Foreign Service.
