At the dawn of a new era, this book brings together leading activists, policy-makers and critics to reflect upon fifty years of attempts to improve respect for human rights. Authors include President Jimmy Carter, who helped inject human rights concerns into US policy; Wei Jingsheng, who struggled to do so in China; Louis Henkin, the modern "father" of international law, and Richard Goldstone, the former chief prosecutor for the Yugoslav and Rwandan war crimes tribunals. A half-century since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the time is right to assess how policies and actions effect the realization of human rights and to point to new directions and challenges that lie ahead. A must have for everyone in the human rights community and the broader foreign policy community as well as the reader who is increasingly aware of the visibility of human rights concerns on the public stage.

The Road to the Twenty-First Century * "Human Rights: Ideology and Aspiration, Reality and Prospect"-- Louis Henkin * "Human Rights: Not Merely an Internal Affair"--Wei Jingsheng * "The American Road to a Human Rights Policy"--Jimmy Carter * "Opening Totalitarian Societies to the World Outside"--Leonid Romankov * Human Rights Enforcement: State and Individual Accountability * "Human Rights in Europe"--Shirley Williams * "The Inter-American System of Protection: Its Contribution to the International Law of Human Rights"--Juan Mendez * "The Construction of the African Human Rights System: Prospects and Pitfalls"-- Makau Mutua * "Human Rights in Pakistan: A System in the Making"-Asma Jahangir * "Advancing the Cause of Human Rights: The Need for Justice and Accountability"-- Richard Goldstone * Human Rights Policy Ideas, Institutions, and Instruments * "Human Rights Organizations: A New Force for Social Change"-- Kenneth Roth * "Democracy and Human Rights: An Argument for Convergence"-- Morton H. Halperin * "Diplomacy with a Cause: Human Rights in US Foreign Policy"--John Shattuck * "Economic Sanctions and Human Rights"--Aryeh Neier * "Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention"-- Kofi Annan * "Human Rights and Deadly Conflict: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure"--David Hamburg * " 'Conscience Trigger’: The Press and Human Rights” --Anna Husarska * Afterword * “The Challenges Ahead: Analysis and Integration”--Mary Robinson

The Road to the Twenty-First Century * "Human Rights: Ideology and Aspiration, Reality and Prospect"-- Louis Henkin * "Human Rights: Not Merely an Internal Affair"--Wei Jingsheng * "The American Road to a Human Rights Policy"--Jimmy Carter * "Opening Totalitarian Societies to the World Outside"--Leonid Romankov * Human Rights Enforcement: State and Individual Accountability * "Human Rights in Europe"--Shirley Williams * "The Inter-American System of Protection: Its Contribution to the International Law of Human Rights"--Juan Mendez * "The Construction of the African Human Rights System: Prospects and Pitfalls"-- Makau Mutua * "Human Rights in Pakistan: A System in the Making"-Asma Jahangir * "Advancing the Cause of Human Rights: The Need for Justice and Accountability"-- Richard Goldstone * Human Rights Policy Ideas, Institutions, and Instruments * "Human Rights Organizations: A New Force for Social Change"-- Kenneth Roth * "Democracy and Human Rights: An Argument for Convergence"-- Morton H. Halperin * "Diplomacy with a Cause: Human Rights in US Foreign Policy"--John Shattuck * "Economic Sanctions and Human Rights"--Aryeh Neier * "Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention"-- Kofi Annan * "Human Rights and Deadly Conflict: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure"--David Hamburg * " 'Conscience Trigger’: The Press and Human Rights” --Anna Husarska * Afterword * “The Challenges Ahead: Analysis and Integration”--Mary Robinson