1 Chi J Intl L 237
Paul B. Stephan

In this article, I review briefly the growth in ambition and scope of modern claims for international customary law and the recent debate over the status of that body of law within US jurisprudence. I compare those developments to the rise of the new international law, which flows out of institutions created by explicit international agreements. I show how these two trends challenge American democracy and discuss possible responses. I then apply the preceding analysis to one international commitment that the United States so far has avoided, namely the permanent International Criminal Court.