International Human Rights Trailblazer: The Case of American Foreign Policy in Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ Under the Carter Administration

Today, the United States’ hegemonic position in international affairs is undeniable. In this role, the United States government has claimed to be a champion of human rights in the world, though, the integrity of this assertion is subject to much debate. President Jimmy Carter played an instrumental role in shaping how the government considers international human rights in its formulation of a foreign policy agenda. A key example of this phenomenon is the Carter administration’s handling of relations with Latin America, specifically Argentina, during the late 1970s and into the early 1980s— a time when the governing military junta was committing gross human rights atrocities