Topics in IR: Strategies for Enforcing Human Rights

This course will address the political strategies that human rights groups use to defend human rights. A government's decision whether to respect human rights is the product of a cost-benefit analysis. We will examine the methods that the human rights movement uses to change the terms of that analysis, from shaming abusive governments to conditioning their access to various diplomatic and economic benefits. The course will examine a range of countries--China, Russia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the U.S.; and a variety of multilateral institutions that can contribute to the defense of human rights including the United Nations.