Human Rights & International Relations
The concept of human rights is tricky in international relations. Human rights are difficult to define, and it is hard to know what the international community should do when they are violated. However, it is essential to understand human rights because they are becoming a more pressing issue.
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Human Rights
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Human rights can be defined as rights guaranteed to all people no matter their race, gender, religion or national origin. The right to life is generally considered a human right. Freedom and the ability to pursue happiness are considered human rights in the United States.
Human Needs
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Human needs in this context are things that, though not as essential to human survival as food and water, are important nonetheless. They include safety, economic freedom and self-expression. The traditional international relations and conflict-resolution perspectives tend to focus less on human needs and more on securing basic human rights.
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Sovereignty as Responsibility
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There is a trend in international relations to define sovereignty as responsibility. In the past, leaders could abuse their citizens and other countries would not get involved out of respect for national sovereignty. Now, under the concept of sovereignty as responsibility, such leaders are seen as giving up their right to sovereignty in the eyes of the international community.
Humanitarian Intervention
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After the Cold War, the U.S. became more involved in humanitarian interventions to protect the human right of those in other countries. The U.S. interventions in Somalia and Kosovo were carried out for human rights reasons.
UN Universal Declaration of Human RIghts
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The UN Declaration of Human Rights, ratified in 1948, was one of the first documents to explicitly list the rights of all human beings. It has been influential in foreign policy and international relations ever since.
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