In Our Own Best Interest

by SCHULZ, WILLIAM

• ISBN13: 9780807002278
• ISBN10: 0807002275
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2002-05-11
• Publisher: Beacon Press

Summary

From the director of Amnesty International, a provocative new argument for defending human rights The Philippines, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia, east Los Angeles. The nightly news brings vivid images of the mistreatment of people all over the world into our living rooms. In the secure comfort of those rooms, we may feel sympathetic, but far removed from these atrocities. "What does all this have to do with a person in east Tennessee?" is the question, from a call-in radio program listener, that prompted Bill Schulz to write this book.Schulz provides answers with an insightful work, generously laced with compelling stories of women and men from all continents, which clearly delineates the connection between Americans' prosperity and human rights violations all over the globe. The book reveals the high cost to the U.S. military of acute political instability in Eastern Europe, the economic impact on U.S. businesses of systemic corruption in East Asia, the serious worldwide environmental hazards of nuclear fuel leaks in Russia, the imminent threat of deadly viruses spreading from Africa, and even the expensive consequences of substandard prison conditions in the United States, to name some examples. At the heart of each of these problems lies the abuse of basic human rights. Through these stories, Schulz builds a powerful case for defending our own interests by vigorously defending the human rights of people everywhere."If any foreign policy primer could be called a page-turner, it is this one by the executive director of Amnesty International USA. What the human rights community needs to do, argues Schulz in this well-written clarion call, is find 'the compelling reasons why respect for human rights is in the best interests of the United States.' . . . Schulz has written a clear and provocative book that should be read by all concerned with human rights and U.S. foreign policy and will draw new supporters among the general public."-Publishers Weekly

Author Biography

Dr. William F. Schulz is the executive director of Amnesty International (USA). He travels throughout the country and the world to advocate for universal human rights and to investigate and document human rights abuses. Mary Robinson is U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Preface to the Paperback Edition	xiii
Preface to the First Edition	xxi
Introduction	1	(16)
``Like the Home-Born among You''
The Moral Underpinnings of the Struggle for Human Rights	17	(21)
``When the Birds No Longer Hide''
The Role of Human Rights in Promoting Democracy and Peace	38	(28)
The Bottom Line
Why Human Rights Are Good for Business	66	(39)
Forest and Ice
Human Rights and the World around Us	105	(15)
Only a Plane Ride Away
Public Health and Human Rights	120	(15)
Saving Money while Saving Lives
The Economic Rewards of Defending Human Rights	135	(12)
No Innocent Place
Human Rights Violations in the Sweet Land of Liberty	147	(30)
David Trimble's Tears
What We Can Do to Promote Human Rights	177	(21)
Appendix	198	(5)
Notes	203	(22)
Acknowledgments	225	(3)
Index	228