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The Ezra Klein Show · August 14, 2026 · 54m 15s

What if America Followed the Rules?

In an unsettled moment for Democratic foreign policy, Ezra Klein explores whether international law could become the party's lodestar. His guest is Linda Kinstler, a Harvard Society of Fellows member and New York Times Magazine contributing writer, whose reporting asks whether the world is watching the death of international law. The conversation examines the Biden administration's failures to live up to the principles it set for itself, and the Trump administration's campaign to destroy the International Criminal Court. Kinstler, author of "Come to This Court and Cry: How the Holocaust Ends," helps assess whether America could simply follow the rules it helped write — and what it would take to reinvigorate them.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Highlights

International Law as the Democratic Alternative
Many on the left are converging on international law as an alternative vision for American power — America could simply start following the rules it helped write.
Biden's Principles-to-Practice Gap
The conversation examines the Biden administration's failures to live up to the principles it set for itself in foreign policy.
Trump's Campaign Against the International Criminal Court
The episode covers the Trump administration's campaign to destroy the International Criminal Court as part of a wrecking-ball approach to international rules and norms.
The Death of International Law as an Open Question
Kinstler's reporting asks whether what we are watching is the death of international law.
Reinvigorating International Law
Beyond diagnosing decline, the conversation asks what it would take to reinvigorate international law.

References

Come to This Court and Cry: How the Holocaust EndsLinda Kinstler
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