In the past week the Obama administration has taken steps to clarify and disseminate its policy with respect to the promotion of human rights and democracy. Following on the heels of an administration that liked to define the purpose of U.S. foreign policy as expanding freedom around the world and...

The backlash against democracy promotion by the U.S. government continues. In the current issue of The National Interest, Gregory Gause urges the U.S. government to "give up on the idea that we should push key Arab allies -- Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia -- to move towards democratic elections." The...

President Mubarak's White House meeting with President Obama today will be a test of the administration's new approach to human rights and democracy promotion strategy in Egypt and in the broader Arab region.

President Mubarak is said to have stayed away from Washington for the past six years to show...

In recent years, those who promote democracy and human rights around the world have become somewhat defensive. The euphoria of 1989, when the captive nations of Eastern Europe emerged from behind the Iron Curtain, has worn off. For every Hungary, Poland or Czech Republic there is a Serbia, Georgia or...

Over the last sixty years, Iranians have demanded human rights, democracy and freedom. They have done it repeatedly, and the U.S. government has failed to craft a policy to respond to this genuine and deep-seated demand.

In his speech in Cairo, President Obama acknowledged with regret the U.S. role "in...

Now that the dust has settled on President Obama's speech in Cairo it's possible to discern the outlines of the new administration's human rights and democracy promotion strategy. The proof of any such strategy naturally comes with results so we will have to wait a while for any assessment. Nonetheless,...

President Obama's speech at Cairo University today was not only an opportunity for him to address "the Muslim world," it was also his first major speech from an authoritarian, undemocratic country. In the broader context of how U.S. foreign policy treats questions relating to human rights and democracy, the message...

On the eve of President Obama's visit to Egypt, some have called for a reduction in U.S. government support for democracy promotion and a re-direction of foreign assistance to traditional development assistance targets like agriculture and health. Such critics are not wrong to observe that "clumsy democracy promotion often...

In the coming weeks, President Obama is expected to meet with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak as part of a round of meetings with regional leaders geared towards resuscitating the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. This meeting and a likely follow-up in Egypt soon thereafter will set the tone for the bi-lateral relationship...

There has been much over-heated commentary about the Obama administration’s decision that the United States will seek election to the United Nations Human Rights Council at the forthcoming elections in May 2009.  One ubiquitous posting has characterized the decision as a “surrender of American values unlike any other,”...

President Barack Obama's first meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev on April 1, offered the world some insight into what shape the promised reset of U.S.-Russia relations will actually take. The apparent willingness to cooperate on areas of mutual concern was matched with a stated willingness to speak frankly...

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returns from her travels to Europe and the Middle east, including Egypt it is worth wondering about the place of human rights in U.S. relations with states with poor human rights records that are vital to U.S. strategic interests.  In her visit to China...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague may well have a long time to wait before it can place the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir to face the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity made against him in an arrest warrant issued today.

The...

In the last few weeks there has been much speculation suggesting that Dmitri Medvedev, Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor as President of the Russian Federation, may be showing signs of independence from his mentor. Having come to power promising to overcome Russia's "legal nihilism" there was some hope that his rule...