PrintNovember 3, 2012
Exceptional No More
(Hamburg, Germany) Human rights received only a brief mention -- by Governor Romney -- in the presidential debate on foreign policy, despite having often been claimed a top international priority. But in fact, the Obama administration's human rights policies deserve careful scrutiny and discussion.
America has been exceptional in the family of nations for prioritizing civil and political human rights over social and economic rights. But over the past four years, America's human-rights engagement has ceased to be exceptional in this regard, as the country's policies and actions have moved into the mainstream of the international community, where all human rights are seen as equal.
During the Cold War, when human rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were codified into international legal covenants, the United States resisted efforts by totalitarian countries to diminish the importance of political freedom by the claim that their centralized state...(Read Full Article)
