As the 2008 Presidential primary season gets under way next month, we at the American Society of International Law are paying particularly close attention to what the candidates have to say about international law. 

How would these Presidential Wannabes purport to regulate global climate change? What international trade policies would they pursue? What do they think about the International Criminal Court? How would they apply international law in the context of efforts to combat terrorism? And what would they do to shore up the nuclear non-proliferation regime?

As a non-partisan educational institution, ASIL does not endorse candidates nor advocate specific answers to these questions. But our members and the voting population are curious to learn about the candidates’ views on these important matters.

Last week, ASIL launched a new website (www.asil.org/il08) to get some answers. International Law 2008 will track the candidates’ positions on the above and other international legal issues. It includes relevant comments, speeches, and policy statements for each candidate; responses to an ASIL survey of all of the candidates (to date Clinton, Edwards, Kucinich, and Obama have replied); and statements of ASIL leaders’ views of “the most important international law-related issue facing the next U.S. administration.” 

We hope that the site will be a resource to the candidates and voters alike and that it will serve to strengthen debate about these key international legal issues in the campaign. Let us know what you think!