ABSTRACT
This book is about the future of human rights in U.S. foreign policy. Many fear that the era of human rights ended the day terrorists turned jet planes into weapons of destruction and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.1 Or, many believe, human rights ended shortly after September 11, 2001, when the United States retaliated with unilateralist policies in violation of international standards, under the assumption that they could establish the rules for the rest of the world.2 I disagree, but in a way that may be slightly confusing for the reader looking for a clear thumbs up or thumbs down on human rights. I contend that human rights are still important for U.S. foreign policy. The United States is in fact still leading the world on human rights, but in the wrong direction, promoting short-term instrumentalism over long-term ethical principles, double standards instead of fair dealing, and a fearful view of human nature over a more open one. An increasingly sophisticated array of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other leaders in civil society continue to demand that human rights ideas be more fully incorporated into U.S. foreign policy. To some extent, these advocates have succeeded in framing public policy choices in human rights terms, but too often competing interests eclipse human rights considerations. Human rights talk has not been accompanied by human rights behaviors.
