Alexander Hamilton Quotes
To look for a continuation in harmony between a number of independent unconnected sovereignties, situated in the same neighborhood, would be to disregard the uniform course of human events, and to set at defiance the accumulated experience of ages.
Hamilton, Alexander. "Federalist No. 6." The Federalist, edited by Jacob E. Cooke, Wesleyan University Press, 1961, p. 28.
The Constitution was not drafted until 1787 and was ratified later. In the interim the young United States functioned under the Articles of Confederation, in a sense, our first Constitution. This clause established that the Federal Government should have the exclusive power and authority to conduct foreign affairs.
See George W. Bush {596316} for the origin of “axis of Evil.
This is a very important historical and political quotation. First, notice that the Secretary of State was criticizing the policies of his President, a refreshingly honest statement, but one which would never be made after the 1950s. The criticism was not even mild but very heavy. A political opponent could not be more negative. Next consider that while the Secretary of State and almost all the experienced diplomats thought the President foolishly wrong and naive about the practicality of self-determination, by the end of the 20th century, virtually every country in the world, capitalist, communist, secular or religious, wealthy or impoverished, all see self-determination is a basic right of all nations. The President was on the right side of history and all the professional diplomats on most nations were on the wrong side. However, Secretary of Lansing was right about one thing. The quest for self-determination has caused a fearful toll of human lives—not thousands as Lansing predicted but millions. He was also right about another aspect—namely that the unit of self-determination can be confusing and contentious. For example, the French Canadians of Quebec want a great deal of self determination and autonomy, but they do not want to give the same right of self-determination to the Mohawk Indians in Quebec who want to govern themselves. There is a continuous dispute in Turkey where the Kurds claim the right of self-determination within Turkey. Turkey has literally dozens of minority groups. Does self-determination mean that each can have its own nation within what is Turkey. And what about the Native Americans in the United States? Nonetheless, Wilson’s general principle is approved by all while the details are often contentious.
You simply do not do that to a head of a democratic state wanting to cross [fly] over your airspace.
American (traitor of whistleblower depending on who is judging) Edward Snowden was in the Moscow International Airport seeking political asylum from several nations. The United States, wanting to extradite and try Snowden criminally had “intelligence” that Snowden was going to fly out of Russia in the private plane of Bolivian President Morales. The U.S. persuaded the European countries to refuse his plan “flyover” rights—usually a formality that is always granted for a foreign head of state. This forced Morales to land his plane for refueling in Austria where, under pressure from the United States, Austrian law enforcement officials boarded and searched the plane—something that is almost never done to a plane that is just refueling, much less the airplane of a head of state. The Secretary General was expressing the outrage of the OAS nations (and many others around the world). What made the situation even more embarrassing for the United States, Austria, and the other European nations which did not grant flyover rights, was the fact that the U. S. Intelligence was totally wrong. Snowden was not on the plane forcing the Austrians who had technically committed an act of war against Bolivia by forcing their way onto a Bolivian plane carrying diplomats and the president of Bolivia, to apologize. Snowden was still in Russia, and the Russians then gave him political asylum in large part because they too resented the behavior of Austria, Europe and above all the United States in the Bolivian plane incident as the pane had taken off from Moscow. This was a very difficult call for the American intelligence agencies, in that there may well have been a plan to put Snowden in that plane that was cancelled when it was clear that the Americans would try and intercept the plane somehow. The OAS and other complaining nations argued that even if Snowden had been on the plane, there was no right to intercept and search the plane anyway.
Individual countries are bound only by the treaties and compacts that they have signed and ratified. So very often someone will allege that a country has violated international law, but that nation may not have signed the Treaty or Compact that binds them, so thy may not be in violation at all whereas some other country in similar circumstances would be. Also, many countries (including the United States) sign treaties but take exception to some of the provisions. Then there are not bound by that provision. This is what makes International Law so complicated and difficult to understand.
This is a statement that was meant as a criticism but would be interpreted by many Americans as just a straight forward description. Many believe that is the way it should be.
The trauma of the Armenian Genocide together with the Turkish official position of denying that it was a genocide has stunted diplomatic relations between the countries since 1915. See {638436}, {639043} and {639039}.
There have been times in democracies where a foreign ministry (State Department) is isolated from the elected politicians and implements a foreign policy that is at odds with the wishes of the elected officials and the majority of the nation. A good American example of this was in 1948 where America had to decide whether to support the creation of the State of Israel in the United Nations and through diplomatic recognition. The professional diplomats in the State Department had developed very close relations with Arab States, and many State Department employees were anti-Semitic. In addition, they thought the most important thing for America was not to risk the Arab oil supply. Meanwhile, the people, Congress, and President Truman were on the other side and Truman had to finally order The Secretary of State to stop his professional diplomats from pursuing their own foreign policy preferences. Even then some did not.
There is no court structure that handles International law disputes. There are some international bodies that hear some types of international law disputes, but no general mechanism. The procedures of these few bodies are very complex and arcane. But worse, there is no body with any power that can enforce any decision that may be reached. Enforcement depends on the good will of the nations involved or the pressure that can be brought to bear by other counties.
Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the founder of the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper. As the first secretary of the treasury, Hamilton was the main author of the economic policies of George Washington's administration. He took the lead in the federal government's funding of the states' debts, as well as establishing the nation's first two de facto central banks, the Bank of North America and the First Bank of the United States, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. His vision included a strong central government led by a vigorous executive branch, a strong commercial economy, government-controlled banks, support for manufacturing, and a strong military.
