Book Reviews : Human Rights and US Foreign Policy: Congress Reconsidered by David P. Forsythe, University Presses of Florida, 1988. 224pp. £24.00. The Rights of Peoples edited by James Crawford. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988, 232pp. £25.00
| Date | 01 May 1989 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711788900900511 |
| Author | Sally Morphet |
| Published date | 01 May 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
456
was
’the
ultimate
American
client’
he
was
by
no
means
the
nastiest
of
American
prot6g6s
before
or
since.
Nevertheless,
the
taking
of
American
hostages
may
be
seen
as
’a
symbol
of
Ameri-
cans’
bewilderment
and
incapacitation’
and
for
Sanford
Ungar
more
even
than
the
American
disaster
in
Vietnam
it
represented
the
end
of
a
post-war
era
of
illusion
for
the
United
States.
Whatever
these
illusions
were -
other
than
perhaps
the
belief
that
in
most
respects
America
deserved
to
be
loved
and
admired -
they
were
almost
certainly
reinforced
in
’those
brief
20
years
after
World
War
II
when
American
power
and
plenty
seemed
endless.’
Having
almost
believed
in
one
world,
Americans,
just
as
much
as
Russians,
now
believed
that
the
world
was
divided
into
two
camps.
For
years
that
belief
was
sustained
by,
and
sustained,
what.another
essay
entitles
’A
Quest
for
Invulnerability’
even
though
in
its
pursuit
the
sense
of
vulnerability
was
exaggerated:
to
the
point
where
almost
anything
in
any
part
of
the
world
could
be
construed
as
a
threat
to
American
security.
As
a
result,
and
although
’interventionism
as
a
national
policy
had
never
been
adequately
understood’,
the
United
States
has
departed
from
the
principles
of
John
Quincy
Adams
and
by
’enlisting
under
other
banners
than
her
own’
has
allowed
her
policy
to
change,
insensibly,
from
liberty
to
force.
Thus,
as
Adams
warned,
the
United
States
might
become
the
dictatress
of
the
world.
But
she
would
be
no
longer
the
ruler
of
her
own
spirit.
Coming
upon
quotations
like
this
is
to
be
reminded
how
sublime
the
ideals
of
Ameri-
can
foreign
policy
have been
even
if
it
is
easy
to
criticise
them
in
practice.
And
now,
for
all
the
intellectual
combat
between
what
Frances
Fitzgerald,
in
another
essay,
reminds
us
have
been
called
the
’collective
internationalists’
and
the
’imperial
isolationists’
(and
what
she
calls
Manichaeans
and
Agnostics),
it
seems
as
if
America
is
becoming
one
among
equals.
The
economic
problems
of
America
and
those
of
the
world
converge.
1971
saw
America’s
first
trade
deficit
of
the
twentieth
century.
The
world’s
richest
country
has
become
the
world’s
biggest
borrower.
Reagan’s
deficit
financing
would
have
amused
and
flattered
Keynes
although
he
would
no
doubt
be
astounded
to
discover
that
she
is
no
longer
even
in
the
top
ten
in
the
per
capita
distribution
of
her
wealth
in
foreign
aid.
Nor
has
a
single
video
recorder,
that
potent
index
of
civilization,
ever
been
made
in
the
USA.
In
one
sense,
of
course,
that
suggests
the
height
of
economic
rationality;
others
make
them
cheaper
and
America
can
afford
it.
Free
trade
at
its
best,
no
restrictions,
’trade
not
aid’.
Will
it
be
enough
to
stabilise
America’s
principal
relationship
with
the
world?
Or
will
it,
under
Reagan’s
successor,
give
way
to
something like
a
retreat
from
the
high
ground,
moral
and
economic?
As
one
ponders
the
words
and
objectives
of
the
Bush
Inaugural
it
might
be
useful
to
have
these
essays
open
on
the
desk.
Aberdeen
University
ANTHONY
SHORT
Human
Rights
and
US
Foreign
Policy:
Congress
Reconsidered
by
David
P.
Forsythe,
University
Presses
of
Florida,
1988.
224pp.
£24.00.
The
Rights
of
Peoples
edited
by
James
Crawford.
Oxford:
Clarendon
Press,
1988,
232pp.
£25.00.
It
is
pleasant
to
see
two
new
books
on
important
but
neglected
subjects
relating
to
human
rights.
One
of
them
comes
mainly
from
Australia
though
it
has
two
good
chapters
from
the
United
Kingdom
and
the
United
States;
the
other
comes
from
the
United
States.
The
main
aim
of
David
Forsythe’s
book
is
to
consider
US
human
rights
foreign
policy
in
what
he
thinks
is
the
appropriate
context
(i.e.
in
terms
of
considerations
of
power
and
policy).
He
seeks
to
do
this
by
studying
Congressional
influence
on
human
rights
in
US
To continue reading
Request your trial