Originally published on the CGS blog on October 9, 2013.
A “Big Lie” is a “deliberate, gross distortion of the truth used especially as a propaganda tactic.” My colleague Jake LaRaus just published a great paper: Birth of a Big Lie – How Misinformation Fuels Treaty Opposition: A Disability Treaty Case Study.
Last December, Bob Dole, former GOP presidential candidate and decorated veteran watched from his wheelchair on the Senate floor as all but eight of the Republicans in that chamber shamefully voted down the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It takes two-thirds of the Senate to ratify a treaty, and even with all 53 senators in the Democratic caucus supporting it, too few Republicans got on board for it to pass.
The treaty’s opponents seem stuck in a partisan twilight zone of UN black helicopters and conspiracy theories that undercuts U.S. influence in global affairs. They’ve perfected a method of defeating virtually every treaty that comes along. Since controversial treaties never pass in the Senate, opponents make any unobjectionable agreement divisive by inventing a Big Lie.
LaRaus examines the Disability Treaty 2012 ratification effort and how the opposition quickly mobilized and diminished support for a modest treaty that was modeled after the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The anti-ratification coalition sowed discord with mischaracterizations and mistruths through a vertically-integrated echo chamber. They not only damaged the United States’ global reputation, but also deprived other nations that have ratified the treaty the benefit of America’s experience implementing the ADA. This is an important report. Understanding how the opposition defeated the Disability Treaty will help supporters of this and other agreements successfully prepare in the future to meet resistance head-on.
Secretary of State John Kerry recently added the United States’ signature to the Arms Trade Treaty. This treaty is a great step forward in dealing with the unregulated and illicit global trade in conventional weapons and ammunition, which fuels wars and human rights abuses worldwide. But the NRA has it in its sights and is already utilizing the Big Lie to derail its ratification.
LaRaus divides and rebuts the mistruths used by Disability Treaty opponents into three broad categories: efficacy and efficiency of the treaty itself, sovereignty-related issues, and qualms of the homeschoolers and parental rights organizations. Here’s an example:
- BIG LIE: Senator Mike Lee (R-UT): “I and many of my constituents who home-school or send their children to religious schools have justifiable doubt that a foreign body based in Geneva, Switzerland, should be deciding what is best for a child at home in Utah.”
- REALITY: Article 36(1) clearly says that the CRPD committee will issue “suggestions and general recommendations” to state parties, which are in no way binding. The committee makes no decisions or decrees – it just gives advice. The role of the Committee was clarified in the RUDs adopted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year. A similar RUD could be recommended again in order to clarify this understanding.
We know that international cooperation is essential to resolve global challenges and build a safer, more secure world. Multilateral treaties establish rules that allow countries to cooperate with clarity and predictability. Since the founding of the United Nations, the U.S. has been a leader in crafting these agreements. However, the United States Senate has not successfully ratified a major multilateral treaty since the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997.
The Senate’s failure to commit has damaged the U.S.’s security, economy, and global leadership. This failure is not accidental. A well-funded and well-organized opposition has emerged that works to fend off and defeat multiparty international agreements, particularly those associated in any way with the United Nations. Birth of a Big Lie is an essential read for anyone who cares about treaties, U.S. global leadership, and the future of our world.
