Online Resources »

Responsibility to protect: An idea whose time has come—and gone?

Is the principle of the responsibility to protect is under attack?

Afghanistan and the War on Terror

News, analysis, special reports are among the PBS Online Newshour's in-depth coverage of Afghanistan and the ongoing conflict against terrorist organizations based in its territory.

Center for American Progress: The Enough Project

The mission of The Enough Project is to help people from every walk of life understand the practical actions they can take to make a difference in preventing genocide and crimes against humanity. It seeks to energize diverse communities – including students, religious groups, activists, business leaders, celebrities, and Diaspora networks – to ensure that their voices are heard on some of the most pressing foreign policy and moral challenges facing the world today.

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Quizzes

GD 2006 Quiz 5 - Human Rights

Terrorist attacks in Western nations have forced governments to adopt measures, sometimes controversial, to combat terrorism. While security is a priority for all societies, debate has arisen about how far some of these measures should reach. Can human rights and civil liberties be fully protected in an age of terrorism?

In the Classroom

Leonard Marks Foundation Essay Contest for Creative Thought and Writing on American Foreign Policy

The American Academy of Diplomacy sponsors the Leonard Marks Foundation Essay Contest for Creative Thought and Writing on American Foreign Policy. Participants in the contest must submit an essay of no more than 1,500 words on five pre-selected challenges for American diplomacy, and propose a policy course to address that challenge over the next one to three years.

Lesson Plan: Human Rights

Prepared by Lara Maupin, former social studies teacher and student government adviser at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA.

Recommended Readings »

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals

In The Dark Side, New Yorker correspondent Jane Mayer writes a definitive narrative account of U.S. decision-making in the pursuit of terrorists around the world that may have not only violated the Constitution, but also hampered the pursuit of Al Qaeda. Mayer relates the increase in presidential powers sought by Vice President Dick Cheney and his staff, which were made possible during the prosecution of the war on terror.

The Leading Rogue State: The U.S. and Human Rights

The contributors to this volume are prominent social scientists who take topics that are standard fare in sociology, such as inadequate housing, children living in poverty, and inadequate health care, and instead of approaching these as social problems, lay out the case for human rights, that is, for example, housing is a human right, children have the right to economic security, and all people have the right to health care, housing, and so on. They argue that the U.S. government may disregard international human rights treaties, declarations, and conventions through legal exemptions, but that Americans are not so dismissive.

Great Decisions 2009 Television Series

Order your copy of Great Decisions 2009 TV Series on DVD. Now in its 24th season, the Great Decisions Television Series, hosted by Ralph Begleiter, devotes one half-hour episode to each of the eight Great Decisions 2009 topics, exploring them in detail with experts in the field. ($40, plus S&H)

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Program Materials

Great Decisions 2009

Order your copy of the Great Decisions 2009 briefing book today! Great Decisions 2009 features impartial, thought-provoking analyses on eight issues of concern to U.S. policymakers today and that represent our foreign policy challenges of tomorrow.

Featured topics: U.S. & rising global powers, Afghanistan/Pakistan, energy & the global economy, the Arctic, U.S. & Egypt, global food supply, Cuba after Castro, and universal human rights. ($18, plus S&H)