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Hello, I am looking for someone to write an article on 1. Discuss why human rights emerged as an important issue in international relations Explain the impact of major cases in international politics.
Hello, I am looking for someone to write an article on 1. Discuss why human rights emerged as an important issue in international relations Explain the impact of major cases in international politics. It needs to be at least 500 words. Discuss why human rights emerged as an important issue in international relations? Explain the impact of major cases in international politics. Today, more than ever, human rights has emerged as an important variable in international relations. This is not exclusively because the United Nations took it upon itself to promote it but also, there are numerous factors that have contributed in making the issue pressing, controversial and forceful. This paper will examine these factors particularly in the context of the relations between North and South America.
The UN made sure - and continues to do so – that human rights is a primary concern of all its member states. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations has been drafted specifically for this purpose. Essentially, this tome defined human dignity, as against honor, which according to Berger, Berger and Kellner, always relates to the intrinsic humanity divested of all socially imposed roles or norms and that it pertains to the self as such, to the individual regardless of his position in society (Berger, Berger and Kellner 1974, 89-90). To demonstrate how the Declaration impacted international relations, there is the fact that it is often cited in UN resolutions of the General Assembly as well as the other agencies of the world body. More importantly, the Declaration has also been often used as the foundation of the constitution, laws and judicial decisions of numerous states, making the declaration some form of a standard measuring the progress of states and peoples toward realizing the full respect for human freedom.
Further on, there is also the power of technology and the integrating nature of communication and globalization that made it impossible for atrocities committed against individuals to be hidden from international scrutiny. An excellent example was when in 1983, peasants from Uchuraccay, Peru killed visiting journalists mistaking them as members of Sendero Lumino (SL), the most notorious terrorist group in Latin America. Because of this, Peru came to the attention of world and human rights became part of the Peruvians’ ordinary language (Cleary 91). Non-governmental organizations have also been formed, with hundreds of thousands of volunteers, experts and civil servants pledging to pursue and protect international human rights.
The negative dimension to the human rights discourse in the context of international relations is demonstrated in the US-Latin American relations. A specific reference to the American policy towards human rights was contained in the inaugural address of US President Carter wherein he declared: “Because we are free, we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere” (Smith 145). Unfortunately, there are many critics that cite the complicity of the US foreign policy in the commission of human rights abuses in Latin America. The argument is that, in the US’ desire to advance its own interests in the region, it has supported military takeover of democratic governments and sided with authoritarian governments to commit abuses in order to perpetuate their regime – a situation favorable to America (Cleary 87). For example, in a document that has been declassified in 2004, Henry Kissinger is quoted telling Argentine generals: “If there are things that have to be done, you should do them quickly” (Sardenas 67). These kinds of international relations incidents pose a serious threat to the achievement of the ideal human rights for everyone. They demonstrate how the existing international frameworks that guarantee it can be bent or rejected especially when the perpetuator is a powerful country such as the US.
All in all the principle behind the importance of human rights in international relations is noble and entirely for the good of the international community. It is for this reason why it has been effective. With the integration of the world into one global society, its members are bound to promote harmony and peaceful coexistence. Human rights is crucial in this respect because it is one of the set of common values and mores that are seen to reflect the collective aim of rejecting anarchy. There is a collective sense of responsibility and in addition, there is the belief that human rights violations in one country can affect the peace and security of other as well. But there would always be setbacks and threats. As illustrated by the US-Latin American relations, countries and parties that are more in the position to advance human rights are behind its sabotage. This is one of the problems that must be resolved if international human rights objectives are to be achieved.
Works Cited
Berger, Peter, Berger, Brigitte and Kellner, Hansfried. The Homeless Mind: Modernization and Consciousness. Vintage Books, 1974.
Cardenas, Sonia. Human Rights in Latin America: A Politics of Terror and Hope. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.
Cleary, Edward. The struggle for human rights in Latin America. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997.
Smith, Joseph. The United States and Latin America: a history of American diplomacy, 1776-2000. New York: Routledge, 2005.
