Governments use human rights both as a tool and as an objective of foreign policy. The Role of Human Rights in Foreign Policy analyses conflicting policy goals such as peace and security, economic relations and development co-operation. The use of diplomatic, economic and military means is discussed, together with the role of state actors, intergovernmental organizations and non-state actors.
Human Rights And Comparative Foreign Policy Is The First Book In English To Examine The Place Of Human Rights In The Foreign Policies Of A Wide Range Of States During Contemporary Times. The Book Is Also Unique In Utilizing A Common Framework Of Analysis For All 10 Of The Country Or Regional Studies Covered. This Framework Treats Foreign Policy As The Result Of A Two -Level Game In Which Both Domestic And Foreign Factors Have To Be Considered. Leading Experts From Around The World Analyze Both Liberal Democratic And Other Foreign Policies On Human Rights. A General Introduction And A Systematic Conclusion Add To The Coherence Of The Project. The Authors Note The Increasing Attention Given To Human Rights Issues In Contemporary Foreign Policy. At The Same Time, They Argue That Most States, Including Liberal Democratic States That Identify With Human Rights, Are Reluctant Most Of The Time To Elevate Human Rights Concerns To A Level Equal To That Of Traditional Security And Economic Concerns. When States Do Seek To Integrate Human Rights With These And Other Concerns, The Result Is Usually Great Inconsistency In Patterns Of Foreign Policy. The Book Further Argues That Different States Bring Different Emphases To Their Human Rights Diplomacy, Because Of Such Factors As National Political Culture And Perceived National Interests. In The Last Analysis States Can Be Compared Along Two Dimensions Pertaining To Human Rights: Extent To Which They Are Oriented Toward An International Rather Than National Conception Of Rights; And Extent To Which They Are Oriented Toward International Rather Than National Action To Protect Human Rights.
In a troubled world where millions die at the hands of their own governments and societies, some states risk their citizens' lives, considerable portions of their national budgets, and repercussions from opposing states to protect helpless foreigners. Dozens of Canadian peacekeepers have died in Afghanistan defending humanitarian reconstruction in a shattered faraway land with no ties to their own. Each year, Sweden contributes over $3 billion to aid the world's poorest citizens and struggling democracies, asking nothing in return. And, a generation ago, Costa Rica defied U.S. power to broker a peace accord that ended civil wars in three neighboring countries--and has now joined with principled peers like South Africa to support the United Nations' International Criminal Court, despite U.S. pressure and aid cuts. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are alive today because they have been sheltered by one of these nations. Global Good Samaritans looks at the reasons why and how some states promote human rights internationally, arguing that humanitarian internationalism is more than episodic altruism--it is a pattern of persistent principled politics. Human rights as a principled foreign policy defies the realist prediction of untrammeled pursuit of national interest, and suggests the utility of constructivist approaches that investigate the role of ideas, identities, and influences on state action. Brysk shows how a diverse set of democratic middle powers, inspired by visionary leaders and strong civil societies, came to see the linkage between their long-term interest and the common good. She concludes that state promotion of global human rights may be an option for many more members of the international community and that the international human rights regime can be strengthened at the interstate level, alongside social movement campaigns and the struggle for the democratization of global governance.
Poland and the Netherlands: A case study of European RelationsDuco Hellema, Ryszard Zelichowski, Bert van der Zwan (eds.)DIVS - ISL, 4(International Studies Library, 29)Dutch-Polish relations go back as far as the late Middle Ages. It is a history full of dramatic events, unexpected twists and serious rifts. This book focuses primarily on the relations between the Netherlands and Poland in the 20th century, an episode historiografically generally neglected compared to the earlier period.Today Poland and the Netherlands have developed full political, economic and cultural ties. Both countries enjoy as sovereign states equal membership of the EU and NATO. It took a long way to come so far. Because of political circumstances, largely driven by developments outside the two countries' control, it was not an easy way to go. International politics, especially the Second World War, the succeeding Cold War and the collapse of the Berlin Wall influenced bilateral contacts deeply. It makes the story of modern Dutch-Polish relations the more fascinating.Table of ContentsIntroduction1.Reflections on Polish-Dutch Relations in the 16th and 17th Centuries by Maria Bogucka2.Polish-Dutch Cultural Relations in the 17th and 18th Centuries by Wojciech Kriegseisen3.Poland and the Netherlands in the 19th century by Idesbald Goddeeris4.The Netherlands and Poland in the interwar years, 1919-1939 by Remco van Diepen5.The Two Governments-in-Exile in London by Magdalena Hu as6.Maczek's and Sosabowski's men: The Polish contribution to the liberation of the Netherlands by Ben Schoenmaker 7.The Cold War Years: 1945-1975 by Duco Hellema8.Different Degrees of Cold: Polish-Dutch relations 1945-1975 as seen from The Hague by Ryszard elichowski9.Impressions of crucial years: Poland, 1977-1980 by Edy Korthals Altes10."That Poland be Polish again"? Dutch policy on Poland, 1975-1989 by Floribert Baudet11.The authorities of the Polish People's Republic and human rights issues in the CSCE process by Wanda Jarz bek12.The Netherlands and Poland's accession to NATO: 1989-1999 by Duco Hellema and Lotte Kaatee13.Reaching for NATO Membership: Selected Issues and Personal Memories by Henryk Szlajfer14.The Netherlands and Poland's Accession to the European Union by Bianca Szytniewski and Mathieu Segers15.Six years of Polish membership of the European Union by Agnieszka CianciaraAbout the EditorsDuco Hellema is Professor of the History of International Relations at the History Institute of Utrecht University. He has published widely on Dutch foreign relations, the Cold War and the history of international relations in general. One of his recent books is: Dutch Foreign Policy. The Role of the Netherlands in World Politics (Dordrecht: Republic of Letters 2009).Ryszard elichowski (1946) graduated from Institute of History at Warsaw University and is Professor and Director for Research and Studies at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He teaches Dutch history and culture and publishes on small states and special territories. Bert van der Zwan (1956) studied History at Leiden University. He is head of the Historical Unit of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He had published about the history of international relations and Dutch foreign policy.
During the 1970s human rights took the front stage in international relations; fuelling political debates, social activism and a reconceptualising of both East-West and North-South relations. Nowhere was the debate on human rights more intense than in Western Europe, where human rights discourses intertwined the Cold War and the European Convention on Human Rights, the legacies of European empires, and the construction of national welfare systems. Over time, the European Community (EC) began incorporating human rights into its international activity, with the ambitious political will to prove that the Community was a global “civilian power.” This book brings together the growing scholarship on human rights during the 1970s, the history of European integration and the study of Western European supranational cooperation. Examining the role of human rights in EC activities in Latin America, Africa, the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, The Human Rights Breakthrough of the 1970s seeks to verify whether a specifically European approach to human rights existed, and asks whether there was a distinctive 'European voice' in the human rights surge of the 1970s.
The tenth in a series of yearbooks, this edition contains articles on topical human rights issues as well as surveys of individual countries. A new feature is that more attention is given to `self-monitoring' articles investigating the human rights policies of countries in the North on specific issues and sectors. Another feature is that more effort is given to collaboration between institutions in the North and the South in writing articles and surveys. Both will be strengthened in future editions. The topics covered this year are development aid in support of indigenous peoples in Latin America, Dutch experiences with the linkage of aid to human rights observance in Mozambique, and an evaluation of Norway's human rights policies and aid with regard to the Palestinian areas in the wake of the Oslo Agreement. As a regular feature the Yearbook assesses human rights trends in various countries of the South, covering the full range from civil and political rights to economic, social and cultural rights. This year's edition contains surveys of Cuba, Guatemala, Libya, Senegal, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Cuba, Libya and Senegal are included for the first time. The Yearbook on Human Rights in Developing Countries is a joint project of the Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen; the Danish Centre for Human Rights, Copenhagen; the Icelandic Human Rights Center, Reykjavik; the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, Vienna; the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, Utrecht; the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights, Oslo; and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund.
This collection of essays, contributed by his friends, pays tribute to the work of Peter R. Baehr, whose impressive career spans some 40 years of activity devoted to the cause of human rights. Although human rights remains the leitmotiv of Professor Baehr's career, the themes explored in this collection - the role of the nation-state in the 21st century, international organisations and foreign policy - are a reflection of the versatility of his work and the range of his interests. This volume thus offers the reader a stimulating collection of essays by a wide range of international experts on both the theory and the practice of human rights within the context of the nation-state of the 21st century.
