The United States, National Traditions, and Human Rights

Abstract

In mid-July, after almost a year of study, public meetings, and deliberations, the U.S. State Department's Commission on Unalienable Rights issued a draft of its report.1 Worries have abounded on Capitol Hill, in the universities, and among NGOs. The most extravagant of the concerns is that by complying with Secretary Pompeo's mandate2—to ground America's commitment to the promotion of human rights not only in the United States' international obligations but also in the nation's founding principles—the commission's report will play into the hands of autocratic powers. The commission's work, the critics charge, will embolden the likes of Iran, Russia, and…