By the 1980s the concept of internationally recognized human rights was being reinforced by a growing body of international law and by the multiplication of agencies concerned with such matters as torture in Paraguay, slavery in Mauritania, the British use of force in Northern Ireland, and starvation and malnutrition in EastøAfrica and Southeast Asia. No matter how much a national leader might find it more convenient to focus on other matters, some world organization or private group could be counted on to keep the issue of universal human rights alive. Because the subject is particularly timely, David P. Forsythe has revised Human Rights and World Politics, first published in 1983. For this second edition, Forsythe has updated all chapters and completely rewritten the one on U.S. foreign policy to include the second Reagan administration. After a brief history of the evolution of human rights in international law and diplomacy, he surveys human rights standards as developed by the United Nations and other official organizations. Moving from the definitive core of law, Forsythe turns to the interpretation and implementation of rights agreements; the role of private or unofficial organizations such as Amnesty International and the Red Cross; the relationship between civil-political and socio-economic rights; the role of human rights in U.S. foreign policy, particularly under Carter and Reagan; and lobbying in Washington by human-rights interest groups. In all, Forsythe?s exhaustive research and careful analysis bring clarity and concreteness to a subject too often obscured by rhetoric.

There is a stark contradiction between the theory of universal human rights and the everyday practice of human wrongs. This timely volume investigates whether human rights abuses are a result of the failure of governments to live up to a universal human rights standard, or whether the search for moral universals is a fundamentally flawed enterprise which distracts us from the task of developing rights in the context of particular ethical communities. In the first part of the book chapters by Ken Booth, Jack Donnelly, Chris Brown, Bhikhu Parekh and Mary Midgley explore the philosophical basis of claims to universal human rights. In the second part, Richard Falk, Mary Kaldor, Martin Shaw, Gil Loescher, Georgina Ashworth and Andrew Hurrell reflect on the role of the media, global civil society, states, migration, non-governmental organisations, capitalism, and schools and universities in developing a global human rights culture.

International Human Rights examines the ways in which states and other international actors have addressed human rights since the end of World War II. This unique textbook features substantial attention to theory, history, international and regional institutions, and the role of transnational actors in the protection and promotion of human rights. Its purpose is to explore the difficult and contentious politics of human rights, and how those political dimensions have been addressed at the national, regional, and especially international levels. The fifth edition is substantially updated, rewritten, and revised throughout, including updates on multilateral institutions (especially the UN's Universal Periodic Review process and the Human Rights Council's Special Procedures mechanisms), regional systems, human rights in foreign policy (including a specific chapter on U.S. foreign policy), humanitarian intervention and the "responsibility to protect," and (anti)terrorism and human rights. The book also includes a new chapter on the unity (indivisibility) of human rights. Chapters include discussion questions, case studies for in-depth examination of topics (including new case studies on the U.N. Special Procedures, Myanmar, and Israeli settlements in West-Bank Palestine), and ten "problems" (including new entries on the war in Syria and hierarchies between human rights) tailored to promote classroom discussion.

The Rights of Peoples

World Politics, Human Rights, and International Law examines the functional dynamics between these concepts based upon the author's professional experiences dealing with real world situations, problems, and crises: from the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations; Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Israel, and Syria; Bosnia and Herzegovina; successfully litigating genocide at the World Court; indicting Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; prosecuting American torture and enforced disappearances at the International Criminal Court; opposing nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons; citizen civil resistance against state crimes; protecting Indigenous Peoples, etc. The reader can see how the author defined these predicaments from the perspective of international law and human rights, and then proceeded to grapple with them and to rectify them. This book demonstrates the power of international law and human rights to make a positive difference for international peace and justice as well as for the good of humanity in the real world of international power politics. By reading this book the citizen will be empowered and inspired to do the same.

Beth Simmons demonstrates through a combination of statistical analysis and case studies that the ratification of treaties generally leads to better human rights practices. She argues that international human rights law should get more practical and rhetorical support from the international community as a supplement to broader efforts to address conflict, development, and democratization.

This comprehensive introduction to the study of human rights in international politics blends concrete developments with theoretical inquiry, illuminating both in the process. Franke Wilmer presents the nuts and bolts of human rights concepts, actors, and implementation before grappling with issues ranging from war and genocide to social and economic needs to racial and religious discrimination. Two themes¿the tension between values and interests, and the role of the state as both a protector of human rights and a perpetrator of human rights violations¿are reflected throughout the text. The result is a clear, accessible exposition of the evolution of international human rights, as well as the challenges that those rights pose, in the context of the state system.