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	CIAO Focus, April 2002: Current Multilateral Treaties
	The United States is widely seen as moving in the direction of a new unilaterism. From human rights to environmental accords, the Bush Administration has been reluctant to participate in existing and new multilateral treaties. The Kyoto Protocol, the ABM Treaty, the International Criminal Court: the list is long. Supporters of the Bush Administration suggest that fears of increasing international tension, especially in the case of missile defense, are unfounded. The same experts note that Russia, after all, made little fuss over America's go-it-alone strategy on missile defense. Europe, notably France, has called for a new international arms agreement to replace the ABM. Without American support, multilateral treaties face an uphill struggle. In a related development, Robert T. Watson, chief scientist of the World Bank and chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has not been renominated by the U.S. State Department. His departure is seen by many as an opportunity for the Bush Administration to alter the course of climate assessments. This month CIAO examines current multilateral treaties. From CIAO's database: Emissions Trade, Capital Flows and the Kyoto Protocol (PDF) Bush Outlines New US Nuclear Policy China's Cautious Participation in the UN Human Rights Regime (PDF) Outside Links*: Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI) http://sedac.ciesin.org/pidb/pidb-home.html Treaties and International Agreements, UC Berkeley http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/GSSI/trtygde.html The Avalon Project, Yale University http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm * Outside links are not maintained. For broken outside links, CIAO recommends the Way Back Machine [http://www.archive.org/].