United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights: An Overview

The organizers of this symposium asked me to provide a back- ground for the present status of human rights in the foreign policy of the United States Government. They suggested that I provide a his- tory of the subject, stressing the approach of President Carter. I have written such a history, stressing the United States human rights legis- lation which was not created by President Carter, but which he found already in place when he reached the White House. Rather than recite this historical background, I think it would be more useful to look at three basic questions which might assist students to analyze the situa- tion for themselves. First, why have a United States foreign policy on human rights? Second, how do we determine what that policy is? And third, what can we do about it, once we have identified the policy