The U.S. Government and Human Rights

Historian and foreign-policy analyst James Peck argues that Washington has used the language of human rights to promote American interests abroad and further America’s global reach. In Ideal Illusions: How the U.S. Government Co-opted Human Rights, he looks at Soviet dissidents, protesters in Tiananmen Square, and today's war on terror. Peck reveals how the human rights movement often fails to challenge Washington's strategies.