Just because U.S. federalism
deposits foreign policy exclusively with governmental institutions at the
federal level does not mean that that domain cannot be shared between state and
federal governments in a federal system. This was precisely the case in the
E.U. as it struggled to come up with a unified response to Israel having ignored
the verdict of the World Court—the UN’s court—ordering Israel to cease and decease
from invading Rafah from May 24, 2024 onward. Meanwhile, two of the E.U.’s
states were poised to recognize Palestine. Such emphasis on the state
governments playing the leading role is fraught with difficulties even though in
theory there is on reason why foreign policy cannot be a competency, or domain,
that is shared at the state and federal “levels.” In federalism, the federal
and state governmental systems are on par, rather than one of the governmental
systems being above the other, so “levels” is misleading. Even so, a lot can be
said for delegating foreign policy to the federal level. This can be seen from
the state and federal reactions in the E.U. as Israel continued its invasion of
Rafah just after the World Court had ruled that Israel would be violating
international law and the UN’s charter in continuing the offensive.
The full essay is at "The E.U. on Israel."
