Just Politics

Human Rights and the Foreign Policy of Great Powers

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, International, International Security
Cover of the book Just Politics by C. William Walldorf Jr., Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: C. William Walldorf Jr. ISBN: 9780801459634
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint: Cornell University Press Language: English
Author: C. William Walldorf Jr.
ISBN: 9780801459634
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint: Cornell University Press
Language: English

Many foreign policy analysts assume that elite policymakers in liberal democracies consistently ignore humanitarian norms when these norms interfere with commercial and strategic interests. Today's endorsement by Western governments of repressive regimes in countries from Kazakhstan to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in the name of fighting terror only reinforces this opinion. In Just Politics, C. William Walldorf Jr. challenges this conventional wisdom, arguing that human rights concerns have often led democratic great powers to sever vital strategic partnerships even when it has not been in their interest to do so.

Walldorf sets out his case in detailed studies of British alliance relationships with the Ottoman Empire and Portugal in the nineteenth century and of U.S. partnerships with numerous countries—ranging from South Africa, Turkey, Greece and El Salvador to Nicaragua, Chile, and Argentina—during the Cold War. He finds that illiberal behavior by partner states, varying degrees of pressure by nonstate actors, and legislative activism account for the decisions by democracies to terminate strategic partnerships for human rights reasons.

To demonstrate the central influence of humanitarian considerations and domestic politics in the most vital of strategic moments of great-power foreign policy, Walldorf argues that Western governments can and must integrate human rights into their foreign policies. Failure to take humanitarian concerns into account, he contends, will only damage their long-term strategic objectives.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Many foreign policy analysts assume that elite policymakers in liberal democracies consistently ignore humanitarian norms when these norms interfere with commercial and strategic interests. Today's endorsement by Western governments of repressive regimes in countries from Kazakhstan to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in the name of fighting terror only reinforces this opinion. In Just Politics, C. William Walldorf Jr. challenges this conventional wisdom, arguing that human rights concerns have often led democratic great powers to sever vital strategic partnerships even when it has not been in their interest to do so.

Walldorf sets out his case in detailed studies of British alliance relationships with the Ottoman Empire and Portugal in the nineteenth century and of U.S. partnerships with numerous countries—ranging from South Africa, Turkey, Greece and El Salvador to Nicaragua, Chile, and Argentina—during the Cold War. He finds that illiberal behavior by partner states, varying degrees of pressure by nonstate actors, and legislative activism account for the decisions by democracies to terminate strategic partnerships for human rights reasons.

To demonstrate the central influence of humanitarian considerations and domestic politics in the most vital of strategic moments of great-power foreign policy, Walldorf argues that Western governments can and must integrate human rights into their foreign policies. Failure to take humanitarian concerns into account, he contends, will only damage their long-term strategic objectives.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book The Control Agenda by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book Dirt for Art's Sake by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book Northern Men with Southern Loyalties by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book Fleas, Flies, and Friars by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book Suffrage Reconstructed by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book Women in Old Norse Society by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book The Good Temp by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book History and Its Limits by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book The Senses of Humor by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book A Not Too Greatly Changed Eden by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book From Farm to Canal Street by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book The Endtimes of Human Rights by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book Race against Empire by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book "No One Helped" by C. William Walldorf Jr.
Cover of the book They Never Come Back by C. William Walldorf Jr.
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy