U.S. Human Rights Policy Can Help Friends and Hobble Foes

Posted: September 8th, 2017

By Edward Luttwak

Edward Luttwak is a CSIS senior associate and has served as a consultant to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force, and a number of allied governments as well as international corporations and financial institutions. He is a frequent lecturer at universities and military colleges in the United States and abroad and has testified before several congressional committees and presidential commissions. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Bath (United Kingdom).

The administration of President Donald Trump has focused very little on the promotion of U.S. values – particularly international human rights – in its first nine months. At times the president and his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, have appeared to belittle the use of human rights in foreign policy as an impediment to U.S. interests. If this stance holds, it would break with almost 40 years of American diplomatic tradition. The Cipher Brief’s Fritz Lodge spoke with Dr. Edward Luttwak, a senior associate at the Center for International and Strategic Studies and international military consultant, about the history and utility of human rights as a tool of U.S. foreign policy.

The Cipher Brief: When you look back at the history of U.S. foreign policy, what role do you see human rights playing in that policy?

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