You are an American. You are today the most powerful national citizen who has ever existed. But you live in a world mostly populated by non-Americans, many of whom believe you enjoy privileges they do not, and many of those people would like to make some changes. Some of those non-American change-seekers would love to see a break-down of international law and order. So, American reader, is it a good time to tell the rest of the world that you don’t think international law is real?
Texas Governor Rick Perry thinks so. The Obama Administration has asked Perry to delay the execution of Humberto Leal Garcia, Jr.–a Mexican national convicted of the rape and murder of a child in 1994–because Texas did not give Leal access to the Mexican consul in violation of the Vienna Convention. In response, Perry’s office said no to a stay. The case is covered by SCOTUSblog, the New York Times, and the BBC.
International comity is not an abstraction in Texas. The state shares a 1,200 mile border with Mexico, a border that Perry himself claims is insecure. Of course, the border is not a barrier, but a river, a river where the deepest channel marks the political boundary between two nations. So says the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, an international convention that Perry presumably supports.
If the world decides to ignore the border treaty–in the same way Texas is ignoring the Vienna Convention–will Perry change his regard for international law? And if so, will anybody care?