Indispensability and indefensibility? The United States in the climate treaty negotiations

The United States has a penchant these days for joining international negot iations that spin out of control. We went to Kyoto to talk about climate ch ange and discovered we couldn't sign the treaty. We went to Ottawa to talk about landmines and found our military problems ignored by other states. We may be the "indispensable country," as Secretary of State Madeleine Albrig ht likes to say. But we often set ourselves up as Alamo holdouts, criticize d as the indispensable country with indefensible positions.