ABSTRACT
This essay explores the extent of continuity and change in US human rights policy since 1945, that is, the degree to which US government officials take human rights into account as they formulate foreign policy. In some instances US policymakers have weighed governments’ human rights records as they assessed decisions on military and economic support, formal and informal alliances, or high-level visits. More often, the US government has minimized attention to human rights concerns in its policy formulation. This essay addresses episodes ranging from the US effort to create a human rights framework for the post-World War II world to US policymakers’ struggle to balance human rights and security in the face of terror threats during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama years. The essay argues the US government rarely prioritized human rights unless doing so aligned with other national policy objectives.
