Human Rights as a Weapons System

  • Published
  • By JSOU
  • JSOU

TOPIC SPONSOR: JSOU

The United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a milestone document in the advancement of the dignity of the human race. When it comes to U.S. respect for and promotion of universal human rights, the U.S. is in a radically different position than its strategic competitors, i.e., China and Russia. This may be an area where the U.S. may be able to isolate both nations based on their deplorable human rights records. This could be an area where there is little downside, as these competitors could be labeled pariah states by the international community based on their behavior that goes against global norms, or they alter their behavior to integrate into the global community. If the latter, they would become less threatening to vital U.S. interests. How could the DoD utilize human rights as a weapon system against strategic competitors?