TRUE LEADERSHIP: Gary Dempsey of

TRUE LEADERSHIP: Gary Dempsey of the Cato Institute on why it’s a very good thing that the US bailed out on the International Criminal Court:

Most troubling, however, is the muddled understanding the president’s critics have of the concept of leadership. Indeed, the president’s critics seem to believe that it is an expression of American leadership to go along with treaties that are flawed, like the International Criminal Court, and treaties that are contrary to U.S. national interests, like the Kyoto Protocol. By that logic, following the bad policies of other countries is a form of American leadership.

True leadership, however, is something different than the president’s critics imagine. True leadership means pursuing policies that are in America’s national interest, and persuading other countries that the policies are in their national interest too. It does not mean, as some of the president’s critics contend, doing things because they will make other countries happy. That’s what we might more accurately call “followership.”