with existing U.S. law. The message this pat tern conveys is that the United States does not allow international legal processes to affect how it defines and protects rights domestically. Two recent books explore aspects of this issue using dramatically dif ferent approaches. The Leading Rogue State: the U.S. and Human Rights, edited by Judith Blau, David L. Brunsma, Alberto Moncada, and Catherine Zimmer is a collection of short essays about U.S. human rights practices across a wide range of issues. Kate Nash's The Cultural Politics of Human Rights: Comparing the US and UK is a well structured exploration of how cultural and institutional factors shape national dis courses surrounding universal human rights, and how these processes affect pros pects for the emergence of a cosmopolitan state.