John Marshall, our nation's fourth Chief Justice, led the Supreme Court in deciding several key cases that established the sanctity of contract law and breathed life into the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution.

FORBES: Magazine Article

What about rights to private property, to freedom of economic exchange, to the sanctity of contract, to equality before the law, to bear arms, to be left free of unreasonable searches, seizures or detentions?

FORBES: Another Illiberal Democracy -- In Egypt

It is possible to get burned by counting on the sanctity of a contract, even when its terms seem crystal clear.

FORBES: Investors, Beware A Bad Day In Court

Notably, the Soviet Union has severely undercut the chances for successful transitions from command economies to free market systems in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia by reducing earlier this year urgently-needed oil and gas supplies by as much as 20-30 percent -- notwithstanding Moscow's contractual obligations and in sharp contrast to Gorbachev's concern about "contract sanctity" in the case of his advisers in Iraq.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy