US Foreign Policy and Human Rights: Situating Obama

Abstract

Three approaches to human rights in US foreign policy serve as benchmarks for a general understanding of the subject from a historical perspective. The first is Enlightenment cosmopolitanism, or classical liberalism, featuring a consistent commitment to the international law of human rights and humanitarian affairs. The second is Providential nationalism, or belief in a Divinely blessed Manifest Destiny. The third is structural realism as represented in modern times by Henry Kissinger. This article examines a fourth approach that will be termed muddling through, or inconsistency regarding human rights in foreign policy, practiced by not only the Obama administration from the start, but at the end of the day by all administrations. There remain particular differences among administrations, and while the Obama record has shown a certain continuity with Bush's foreign policy, some differences are evident.

Attitudes Toward Homosexuality and Perceptions of the United States Abroad*

“…Global citizens tend to evaluate President Obama more favorably than his predecessor President Bush, due to unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (see Appendix D). However, the Obama Administration has also faced international criticism due to inconsistency (Forsythe, ). For example, American officials are often reluctant to raise human rights issues with Chinese leaders partly because China is the number one foreign holder of treasury securities worth US$1,273.5 billion (http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt).…”

The United States, Justice, and Human Rights

“…In his most recent Human Rights Quarterly article (Forsythe 2011), written with the purpose of "situating Obama," Forsythe offers a review of presidential approaches to human rights in formulating US foreign policy. He contends that regardless of their ideological dispositions, all post-World War II presidents of the United States "felt compelled to talk about US commitment to internationally recognized human rights .…”

“…Forsythe further challenges the myth of American exceptionalism that promotes a selfimage of the country as the embodiment and defender of personal freedom by citing historical and ongoing acts of atrocities, policies of discrimination, and cases of obstructionism (Forsythe 1998(Forsythe , 2011. First, he points out that there is a distinction between promoting the rights of Americans and taking action to advance and protect the human rights of foreigners (1995: 129).…”

“…Forsythe seems to find the entire project, called the "War on Terror" by President George W. Bush, a series of steps that opened the doors to human rights violations at home and abroad. Administrative detention without legal charge or trial, overall treatment of the Guantanamo prisoners, "enhanced interrogation tactics," and "extraordinary renditions" are the ones that he particularly disdains (Forsythe 2011). What he finds most problematic is the continuation of many of the Bush era practices under the Obama administration, such as resorting to the "state secret" argument to avoid judicial oversight (2011: 782), providing unconditional support for Israel and failing to acknowledge Israeli troops' violations of human rights in Palestine, even in the face of strong evidence provided by respectable lawyers such as Richard Goldstone (2011: 784), and overlooking human rights violations in various authoritarian states and not acting decisively and consistently when they are challenged by democratic forces (e.g., hesitant and late support extended to Egyptian protesters in Spring 2011, see Forsythe 2011).…”

Os EUA e a Revisão Periódica Universal do Conselho de Direitos Humanos da ONU

“…Neste caso, a política externa para direitos humanos seria menos guiada por questões ideológicas ou identitárias partidárias, e mais por uma atuação que se movimentaria de acordo com as necessidades do caso concreto. Isso porque unidade e interesse nacionais tendem a estar acima da agenda de direitos humanos (FORSYTHE, 2011).…”