Reagan, Congress, and human rights : contesting morality in US foreign policy / Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Søndergaard, Rasmus Sinding, author.

Series:

Human rights in history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reagan, Ronald.

United States. Congress--History--20th century.

United States.

United States. Congress.

History.

Human rights--Government policy--United States--History--20th century.

Human rights.

International relations.

Human rights--Government policy.

United States--Foreign relations--1981-1989.

United States--Foreign relations--Moral and ethical aspects.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 312 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2020.

System Details:

text file

PDF

Summary:

This book traces the role of human rights concerns in US foreign policy during the 1980s, focusing on the struggle among the Reagan administration and members of Congress. It demonstrates how congressional pressure led the administration to reconsider its approach to human rights and craft a conservative human rights policy centered on democracy promotion and anti-communism - a decision which would have profound implications for American attention to human rights. Based on extensive archival research and interviews, Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard combines a comprehensive overview of human rights in American foreign relations with in-depth case studies of how human rights shaped US foreign policy toward Soviet Jewry, South African apartheid, and Nicaragua. Tracing the motivations behind human rights activism, this book demonstrates how liberals, moderates, and conservatives selectively invoked human rights to further their agendas, ultimately contributing to the establishment of human rights as a core moral language in US foreign policy.

Contents:

After the breakthrough : human rights in American foreign relations in the 1980s

The Reagan turnaround on human rights

The Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the limits of bipartisanship

The right to leave : Soviet Jewish emigration

"A universal human rights issue" : South African apartheid

Two tales of human rights : US policy toward Nicaragua.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Apr 2020).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9781108862455

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.