Can the executive branch make international commitments that are binding on the legislative branch and on successors?
There are other potentially irresolvable arguments: America wants its pledges to be written down in the same language as those made by China, while China wants America to make commitments that are more binding than its own.
We fulfill and stand by our commitments that are legally binding associated with the Taiwan Relations Act which requires the U.S. to sell defensive arms to Taiwan.
What has not been recognized is that Dilthey proceeds to establish an ethical system that expects human beings to make unconditional commitments that are self-binding.
No, because commitments that are not legally binding can easily be violated.
"Some may fear that commitments that are not internationally legally-binding may lack credibility," he said.
"It will take commitments that are credible".
But what works for the EU fails for most of the rest of the world that is more skittish about binding commitments that they might not be able to honor.
Therefore, the first and most important decision that world leaders need to take at the Paris climate talks next year is to agree, through a binding commitment, that 2C is the upper, acceptable limit of global warming on Earth.
The shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, is to give a binding commitment that a Labour government will be running a budget surplus by the end of the next parliament, putting himself under severe pressure to deliver big public spending cuts if the party wins the next election.
