Freedom on Fire, Human Rights Wars and Americas Response
| Published date | 01 March 2005 |
| Date | 01 March 2005 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200506000128 |
| Author | Hans Peter Schmitz |
| Subject Matter | Review |
Reviews
FREEDOM
ON
FIRE
Human
Rights Wars and America's Response
John Shattuck
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003. 390pp, us$29.95
doth
(ISBN
0-674-01162-7)
joh n Shattuck was
United
States assistant secretary
of
state for
human
rights
and
humanitarian affairs
during
the major
human
rights crises
of
the 1990s. Rwanda, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovoserve as
main chapter tides for his political memoir covering the period from
June 1993 until he was appointed ambassador to the Czech Republic
in November 1998. In addition to these
humanitarian
crises, two
chapters cover Bill Clinton's human rights policy towards
China
and
the final chapter presents implications for the "war on terrorism."
Shattuck identifies himself as a
"human
rights hawk" (7)
who
believes that the United States should promote human rights globally
and in concert with other nations. He calls for prevention before crises
spin
out
of
control
and
expensive
and
risky humanitarian interven-
tions become necessary. Shattuck criticizes the current us government
for undermining its leadership role in the world by refusing to sign
international treaties
and
rejecting the International Criminal
Court
(ICC).
He blames the current administration's unilateralism for making
the United States an "object
of
global resentment" (6) and failing to
recognize that human rights crisesare breeding grounds for terrorism.
The
main sections present his perspective
of
the bureaucratic struggles
within the Clinton administration,
but
rarely reveal the undoubtedly
difficult personal decisions Shattuck, as a human rights activist, had to
make. While he provides earlyon some personal background
and
talks
about having made "mistakes" (14) during his tenure, the rest
of
the
book offers a more conventional perspective
of
an activist using moral
persuasion in a hostile bureaucratic environment.
The
events underlying the narrative have been told in much greater
detail elsewhere.
This
book adds a crucial (and often marginalized)
perspective from inside the us government. Shattuckprovides his read-
ers with acomprehensive perspective where each crisis creates ripple
effects
and
their simultaneity overwhelmed decision-makers in west-
ern capitals.
The
book provides an intimate view
of
interagency grid-
300
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Win,er2004-2005
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