They reflect, in fact, commitments made in what has come to be called "the secret treaty, " a document signed by Britain and five other European countries in 2000.

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Most importantly, he withdrew the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, an archaic Cold War document that some (notably, Senator John Kerry ) foolishly considered to be the "cornerstone of strategic stability" even a decade after the other party - the Soviet Union - had ceased to exist.

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NATO's own founding document, the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty.

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This Constitution II was called the Treaty of Lisbon, after the place where the new document was signed.

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Prime Minister Gordon Brown has resisted calls for a referendum on the treaty, arguing it is substantially different from the constitution document and Britain has "red lines" protecting sovereignty in key areas.

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Then, the United States supported a deeply problematic final document at the just-completed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference.

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Of these, the most immediate is the fact that the sorts of problems inherent in this Treaty are of a piece with those it is currently confronting in the draft Outcome Document for the UN General Assembly meeting next month.

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