U.S. Human Rights Policy in the Post-Cold War Era

The end of the Cold War brought a new hope for peace and prosperity. Expectations were high. The erratic and vacillating progress in U.S. human rights policy in the previous administrations led human rights activists, scholars, and policymakers to believe that human rights would now be put at the center of U.S. foreign policy initiatives. Despite the unprecedented historical opportunity, the post–Cold era did not usher in a human rights moment. Financial and commercial considerations would trump human rights in U.S. foreign policy.