The Obama Administrations Oligopolistic Shift: The Reciprocal Path-Dependence of the US Presidencies and the Interpretive Regime of the UN Charter

Abstract

This paper examines and evaluates the Obama Administrations policy stance on the interpretive regime of the UN Charter, in comparison to previous administrations. Historically, the policy stance of U.S. administrations on the U.N. Charter can be roughly classified into three typologies: (1) oligopolistic (2) self-restraint, and (3) unilateral model. With regard to the potential conflict of Article 2(7) and Chapter 7, the framers of the UN Charter granted the supremacy of political will of P5 in the Security Council. However, some U.S. administrations were extremely cautious about a broad interpretation of the Charter 7 and even accepted the delegation of critical cases to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Moreover, some US administrations went far beyond the plain meaning of UN Charters and muddled through the opposition from other P5 members in crucial military operations. The Obama administrations track-record of the UN Charter interpretive regime was not necessarily reconstructive.