This is FREE intelligence for distribution. Forward this to your colleagues.
What Happened to the American Declaration of War?
In my book “The Next Decade,” I spend a good deal of time considering
the relation of the American Empire to the American Republic and the
threat the empire poses to the republic. If there is a single point
where these matters converge, it is in the constitutional requirement
that Congress approve wars through a declaration of war and in the
abandonment of this requirement since World War II. This is the point
where the burdens and interests of the United States as a global empire
collide with the principles and rights of the United States as a
republic.
World War II was the last war the United States fought with a formal
declaration of war. The wars fought since have had congressional
approval, both in the sense that resolutions were passed and that
Congress appropriated funds, but the Constitution is explicit in
requiring a formal declaration. It does so for two reasons, I think. The
first is to prevent the president from taking the country to war
without the consent of the governed, as represented by Congress. Second,
by providing for a specific path to war, it provides the president
power and legitimacy he would not have without that declaration; it both
restrains the president and empowers him. Not only does it make his
position as commander in chief unassailable by authorizing military
action, it creates shared responsibility for war. A declaration of war
informs the public of the burdens they will have to bear by leaving no
doubt that Congress has decided on a new order — war — with how each
member of Congress voted made known to the public. Read more »
Dispatch: European Discord on the Libya Intervention
Analyst Marko Papic examines the complications related to transferring
authority for the Libyan intervention from the United States to its
European allies. Watch the Video »
