Mightier than the sword

For foreign policy observers, US President George Bush's human rights rhetoric strikes a chord distinctly reminiscent of the Reagan administration. First impressions, however, can be deceiving.With respect to human rights, the new policies coming out of the White House are actually far more reg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHarvard international review Vol. 25; no. 1; p. 84
Main Author Mertus, Julie
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Harvard International Relations Council 01.04.2003
Subjects
Equal rights
Foreign policy
Human rights
Law
Morality
National security
Presidency
Presidents
Speeches
Tolerance
Values
Women
United States > US
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Summary:For foreign policy observers, US President George Bush's human rights rhetoric strikes a chord distinctly reminiscent of the Reagan administration. First impressions, however, can be deceiving.With respect to human rights, the new policies coming out of the White House are actually far more regressive than those of the Reagan era. The Bush administration's new foreign policy threatens to derail progress on human rights.The administration is undermining the international norms of the UN Charter and other subsequent international treaties, and selectively disregarding international monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. When responding to human rights, the White House instead would seek to act unilaterally, based on a vague notion of human dignity drawn from US notions of freedom and morality. This radical departure is out of line with modern theory and practice on human rights and the policies of every recent US presidential administration.As international attention turns toward pre-emptive military action, other dangerous turns in US foreign policy must not be ignored.
ISSN:0739-1854
2374-6564