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You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Biden’s Foreign Policy – Human Rights

Biden’s Foreign Policy – Human Rights

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A quick post with tweets.

It looks like the Biden State Department plans to emphasize human rights. Their human rights report came out this week, and a quick survey of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent tweets shows a great many on human rights.

Cross-posted to Nuclear Diner

Reader Interactions

62Comments

  1. 1.

    Anonymous At Work

    The big test for this agenda is Saudi Arabia. Horrible and brutal treatment of non-sycophants abounds, as well as oil money to pay Americans to ignore things. Second big test is Israel and making them walk the walk.
    Wake me up when that test comes.

  4. 4.

    Bill Arnold

    @Anonymous At Work:
    I’d flip those (ISR, KSA) but yeah, those will be Antony Blinken’s tests. ISR politics ATM is currently balanced on a couple of knife edges; very interesting, and any biases he has may cause him to make mistakes. I hope he’s fully self-aware.
    The tweets on other issues do look encouraging, TBH.

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    You never heard a peep out of Former Guy’s Secretaries of State on matters like this. (He had more than one, right?) Especially since Former Guy himself was busy cosying up to the principal bad actor in these problematic countries.

  7. 7.

    MisterForkbeard

    Clearly we’re doing much better on the optics and so on, and we’re applying soft pressure here.

    I am curious as to what our other actions are. This is a lot like saying “I’m VERY disappointed in you” – it lets them know we’re unhappy and expect change but there’s not necessarily any teeth in it yet. I’m very curious to see what changes over the next weeks and months as Blinken has time to implement bigger changes.

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    @Amir Khalid: How quickly Rexxon Tillerson was forgotten! Pompeo was too busy using State Dept. staff as personal family butlers and positioning himself for a presidential run via SWAGGER to bother with things like scolding miscreants abroad.

  9. 9.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Amir Khalid: TFG’s Secretary of State was doing something with “unalienable” rights – tried to turn them on their head to put religious “rights” first. You know, the ones that say that you can’t practice your religion because it might offend a Trumpie in Kansas.

    Blinken firmly repudiated that working group and their report. Thanks for reminding me.

    Past unbalanced statements that suggest such a hierarchy, including those offered by a recently disbanded State Department advisory committee, do not represent a guiding document for this administration.  At my confirmation hearing, I promised that the Biden-Harris administration would repudiate those unbalanced views.  We do so decisively today.

  10. 10.

    droog

    Let’s hope the Bolivia statement gets more nuance or that it is a mere formality that doesn’t go anywhere. The previous government was a sham and blind support from the US would only legimitise it.

    Bolivia’s electoral situation is a mess from both sides, but the Áñez interim government proved in a short time to be a christianist authoritarian hellscape for too many people.

  12. 12.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Tweets, of course, are only indicative. But I doubt that they would be issued in the absence of other actions behind the scenes. I was impressed that so many of them mentioned human rights.

  15. 15.

    taumaturgo

    Is obvious no nation has cleaned hands when it comes to human rights and the worse offender are often the loudest critics except when their allies commit an atrocity the attitude sees no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. The French military in Mali killed 19 civilians in a bombing raid in the latest US-French military atrocities and yet not even a twit.

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    @Betty Cracker:

    Yeah, Tillerson’s co-duties seemed to be Secretary of Exxon and Dismantler of State, in which he hollowed out the place like it was the last J.C. Penny’s. Swear to bog that Pompeo was the better of the two, if only because he started staffing up the joint while off running for preznit.

    Has China yelled at Biden yet for “interfering in our internal affairs, which are ours”?

  18. 18.

    taumaturgo

    @droog: Is all about lithium. Do a quick search Bolivia-US coup and you’ll see the US fingerprints all over the overthrow of a democratically elected government.

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    @Fcb:

    Listened to an interview on BBC with one of the protestors who had recently been released from military detention and she referred to it as Burma herself. I get the sense that their pro-democracy folks favor ditching Myanmar.

  21. 21.

    Yutsano

    @Amir Khalid: How one gets Burma out of Myanmar and vice versa is a bit in the territory of oddsfish for me. Then again I haven’t actually heard the true name of the country so what do I know?

  22. 22.

    Ken

    @Amir Khalid: I was trying to imagine a writing system where “Myanmar” and “Burma” are both transliterations. Then I remembered that my own language is English, which is in no position to lecture others on spelling

    Wikipedia has an entire page on the country’s name.  That such a page exists is itself a sign of something, though I’m not sure what. It reminds me of the semi-snarky, semi-horrified observation that Wikipedia has disambiguation pages for “Butcher of Bosnia” and “Butcher of the Balkans”.

  23. 23.

    Amir Khalid

    @Yutsano:
    Every Western country has its — unique, shall we say — approach to transliterating place names of the countries it has colonised, based on how it uses the Latin alphabet in its own language.

  26. 26.

    gene108

    I wonder how much clout the USA has to pressure others on issues like human rights, given the very public coverage of the George Floyd protests last summer, and the police response, our epidemic of mass shootings and seeming inability to do anything, as well as Bush & Co.’s torture program, and other things.

    I’m not saying the USA is awful, but rather our public image has been tarnished over the last twenty years.

    I’m not sure we throw around as much weight as in the past.

  27. 27.

    Gravenstone

    @Parfigliano: Oh, he can touch US soil – as long as we’re committed to promptly arresting him for the murder of Khashoggi and holding his ass until trial.

  28. 28.

    Jay

    Wow. Instead of being visited by a Dr, @navalny was visited by a team from RT, led by MARIA BUTINA (yes, the same woman convicted in the US of being a Russian agent). She shouted this was the best prison. Navalny then called her a parasite and a servant of the power of thieves. https://t.co/CaFTKHIz1F— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) April 1, 2021

  29. 29.

    Yutsano

    @Ken:

    I was trying to imagine a writing system where “Myanmar” and “Burma” are both transliterations.

    Burmese doesn’t use an alphabet, per se. Burmese uses an abugida which takes the vowel and “attaches” it in some way. I’m of course WAY oversimplifying, but that’s the extreme gist of it.

  30. 30.

    Mike in NC

    Great to see our foreign policy is no longer controlled by Vladimir Putin and that nitwit Pompeo.

  31. 31.

    Yutsano

    @Mike in NC: I was worried enough about ol’ winner of the Russian Order of Friendship Rex. Turns out even a former CEO of Exxon had better ethics than Pompeo. Now I wonder exactly when the Russian bounties started.

  32. 32.

    sdhays

    @trollhattan: I know ol’ Rex got a lot of blame for hollowing out State, but my understanding was that it was at least partially, if not mostly, due to complete inattention at the WH. Tillerson couldn’t get the WH to appoint the people he wanted and they didn’t even bother forcing other people on him. They just let State sit there, empty. A huge part of his unique failure at Secretary of State was his total irrelevance to the President’s inner circle from the very beginning.

    This is the only way Pompeo was any better – Pompeo knew how to keep in Dump’s good graces and could get things out of him.

  33. 33.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    Every Western country has its — unique, shall we say — approach to transliterating place names of the countries it has colonised, based on how it uses the Latin alphabet in its own language.

    It doesn’t help that many of the languages we’re trying to transliterate use a different set of sounds from the ones our languages use, so every attempt at transliteration is inherently flawed from the start.  And the Roman alphabet isn’t really adequate to represent most European languages, even the ones that are directly descended from Latin.  That’s why they have their own non-standard extensions like diacritical marks and multi-letter combinations.

  34. 34.

    Roger Moore

    @gene108: ​

    I wonder how much clout the USA has to pressure others on issues like human rights, given the very public coverage of the George Floyd protests last summer

    One of the big points I got from the George Floyd protests was that the US is far from the only country with these kinds of problems. There were sympathy demonstrations in other countries that then sparked all kinds of discussions and protests about the same kinds of ethnic problems there. If anything, dealing with our own problems in a messy, public way rather than burying them should give is better credibility in the long run.

  35. 35.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Cheryl Rofer:  I thought the noun form was now Myanmar but the adjective was always “Burmese” in American English. But I have different transliteration issues to occupy my time.

  36. 36.

    J R in WV

    @Fcb: 

    Back to calling it Burma?

    When did that happen?

    @Cheryl Rofer: 

    @Fcb: The State Department never stopped calling it Burma.

    I worked with a guy from Burma back in the 2000s — he never used the term Myanmar, said that was the military junta’s name and that no one not in that government would ever use that name.

    Was a really smart guy, even though he was a Republican leaning person back then. His whole family’s current generation had made it into America, were doctors, IT staff, etc. He had graduated from UT El Paso with an EE degree, made a lot of money counting cards in Vegas.

  37. 37.

    trollhattan

    Unpublicized feature of Infrastructure Week: using earth movers to scrape away Trump appointees.

    Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan will purge more than 40 outside experts appointed by President Donald Trump from two key advisory panels, a move he says will help restore the role of science at the agency and reduce the heavy influence of industry over environmental regulations.

    The unusual decision, announced Wednesday, will sweep away outside researchers picked under the previous administration whose expert advice helped the agency craft regulations related to air pollution, fracking and other issues.

    Critics say that under Trump, membership of the two panels – the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) – tilted too heavily toward regulated industries and their positions sometimes contradicted scientific consensus.

    The Biden administration said the move is one of several to reestablish scientific integrity across the federal government after what it characterizes as a concerted effort under the previous president to sideline or meddle with research on climate change, the novel coronavirus and other issues.

  38. 38.

    Jay

    @Roger Moore:

    yup, BLM in the US, amplified and made public, racism/policing issues we have in Canada with BIPOC persons, made cases much more public, and caused a bunch of people to stand up.

    Atlanta and other local issues have done the same for racism against Asians and those who present as.

    Two weeks ago, the RCMP intercepted a truck coming to our store, forced it to a stop by driving it into the side of the building, and after a short standoff, disarmed and arrested the occupants. Apparently, they were planning a mass shooting.

    So now, ( as a result of that and other incidents) we are at the our store level, piloting “deconfliction and de-escilation” training programs for staff, centered on racism.

  39. 39.

    droog

    @taumaturgo: ​
     

    Yeah, I know about the lithium and the Muskiness of US interests. The truth is Bolivia will look to sell that lithium no matter who is in power. The MAS government is more likely to let that happen without the operation turning into an abbatoir for local communities.

  40. 40.

    Martin

    Saw a proposal for filibuster reform that I hadn’t seen before. Basically keep the filibuster exactly as-is, but change the cloture rules so that to invoke cloture (allow a vote) you just need approval from as many senators that represent 50% of the US population. On actual votes, CA and WY would still be weighted the same, but on cloture CA would carry ~70x the weight.

    Basically, if you want to extend debate, you need a popular majority. This would keep the small rural states from completely dominating policy. They would still have an outsized vote on the actual legislation, but they couldn’t push it through against the popular representation.

  41. 41.

    Martin

    @gene108:

    I wonder how much clout the USA has to pressure others on issues like human rights, given the very public coverage of the George Floyd protests last summer, and the police response, our epidemic of mass shootings and seeming inability to do anything, as well as Bush & Co.’s torture program, and other things.

    Not much. Toss in the US child kidnapping the last 4 years. Additionally toss in the 73 million americans who asked for more of that, and when they couldn’t get it threw their weight behind flushing democracy down the toilet.

    I mean, you’ve got to start, but it going to take a lot of work on all of these fronts before we have any real credibility. Accountability is a necessary step. I hope Joe gets that.

  43. 43.

    Cameron

    @trollhattan: I just finished reading that.  Even for Florida, this story is whack.  Don’t know much about Gaetz, other than he’s a Trumper who comes off as a dumb rich kid.  Whole lotta kinks there.

  45. 45.

    Steve in the ATL

    So glad that a couple of folks took time off from Rose Twitter and/or RT to come here and bitch about Biden.  Don’t recall their posts bitching about trump….

  47. 47.

    Jay

    WASHINGTON—President Biden has directed the Pentagon to begin removing some military capabilities and forces from the Gulf region in the first steps of an effort to realign the U.S. global military footprint away from the Mideast, changes that come as Saudi Arabia endures rocket and drone attacks from inside Yemen and Iraq.

    In moves that haven’t been previously reported, the U.S. has removed at least three Patriot antimissile batteries from the Gulf region, including one from Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, that had been put in place in recent years to help protect American forces.

    Some capabilities, including an aircraft carrier and surveillance systems, are being diverted from the Middle East to answer military needs elsewhere around the globe, according to U.S. officials. Other reductions are under consideration, officials said.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-trimming-forces-sent-to-mideast-to-help-saudi-arabia-11617279687?redirect=amp#click=https://t.co/Ppcl9oYkSd

  48. 48.

    Cameron

    @Jay: Iraqi government has said it wants us to leave anyway, so I guess this is a start.  Only thing that gives me pause is the ‘military needs elsewhere’ bit; I hope it doesn’t mean China.

  50. 50.

    Rocks

    @Martin: Don’t stop at cloture.  Let’s apply the “senators representing a majority of Americans” standard to voting, especially voting for judges.  Those three Trump miscreants on the Supreme Court would have never gotten there if this standard was applied.

  51. 51.

    Jay

    @Martin:

    there is the US, and then there is the US people, many of whom have through their actions, inspired the rest of us to take action, and still do.

    a bunch of the global human rights issues are taking place in countries, outside of the US economic and political orbit.

    others, are taking place inside the US economic and political orbit, but “National Security” has for decades, taken precedence over human rights.

    we will see how things shake out.

  52. 52.

    citizen dave

    I’ll never understand why Navalny went back to Russia.  They will kill him at some point.  And for what?  It doesn’t seem like there are enough Russians who actually want a democracy.

  54. 54.

    Jay

    @Cameron:

    the move has little to do with Iraq, more to do with pulling US military assets from Sawdi Arabia and The Petty Kingdoms that allowed Sawdi Arabia and The Petty Kingdoms to divert military force away from “defence” to instead  engage in colonialist adventurism in Yemen, Qatar, Syria, Somalia, Libya and parts of Africa.

  55. 55.

    Jay

    @citizen dave:

    Nalvany outside Russia is just another expat, like Kasperov, or to go way back, Trostky.

    Inside Russia, he is a patriot, a rallying point, a cause,  and a martyr.

    He is willing to die for a better Russia.

  56. 56.

    Roger Moore

    @citizen dave:

    There are lots of Russians who want a democracy; they’re just afraid to speak up about it.  Maintaining a democracy is hard, even when people are used to having one; maintaining one in a country with no history of democratic government is even harder.  But you can’t achieve anything without leaders who are willing to stand up and do something about it.  That is risky when facing a brutal dictator like Putin, but Russia needs people as brave as Nalvany if it has any hope of becoming a democracy.

  57. 57.

    Yutsano

    @Jay: I sincerely hope Navalny is not killed. I think even Vladdie knows better than to let him die in jail. But the way this goes is that if the husband dies the wife takes over. And by the reports from outside Yulia Borisovna Navalnaya is her own force to be reckoned with.

  58. 58.

    Jay

    @Yutsano:

    part of the problem in autocracies like Russia, is that with out an explicit order from DarthPutin, to treat Nalvany with kid gloves, many “agents of the State”, will enact brutality to curry favour with the Administration.

    Autocrats don’t really “control” as much as they want to.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    @Jay:

    Autocrats don’t really “control” as much as they want to.

    Absolutely. There’s this idea, frequently spread by autocrats themselves, that an autocratic government is this amazing machine that takes the leader’s thoughts and translates them into reality.  That’s never the way things really work.  The autocrat can only achieve things through the actions of other people, and those people’s needs and desires need to be taken into account.

    And, as you point out, the autocrat can’t dictate every last action by everyone who works for him, so a lot of what happens is either what the subordinates think the autocrat wants or what the subordinates want and think their delegated power will let them get away with.  The guards in prison could do all kinds of terrible things to Nalvany, either because they think that’s what Putin wants or because they’re angry and want to take it out on someone.

  60. 60.

    Martin

    @Jay: Nalvany is a fascist. A different kind of fascist from Putin, but still a fascist. I mean, he shouldn’t be persecuted, so I’m not critical of the US condemnations, but he’s not the kind of person we want taking over Russia.

  61. 61.

    Jay

    @Martin:

    Nalvany’s not going to take over Russia. At best, he is the ember that eventually builds a fire, that changes Russia hopefully for the better.

  62. 62.

    YY_Sima Qian

    It’s one thing to protest against mistreatment of dissidents and political opposition, but I think it would be dangerous and misguided to become directly involved in domestic politics of other countries, by covertly or overtly supporting one faction or another. It has rarely worked out well for either the country targeted or those doing the intervening,

    One should also lose any romanticism about “democratic revolution”, or any revolution. Throughout history, revolutions have rarely resulted in improvements:

    The American Revolution left intact the institution of slavery, contradiction that had to be resolved (and not fully resolved) by a bloody Civil War, which in any case did nothing to restrain the nation’s imperial/colonial march across the continent and squashing the natives.

    The slogan of the French Revolution was “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité“, but what followed was the Reign of Terror, Napoleonic empire and 2 decades of continent wide warfare, decades of revanchist monarchy, and further decades of revanchist empire.

    The Republican Revolution of 1911 overthrew the collapsing Qing Empire in China, but quickly devolved into chaos as regional warlords took control and engaged in a decade of internecine warfare (with outside powers supporting their favorites), ending in a nominal reunification under the Fascist-Leninist regime of Chiang Kai-Shek, leaving China open to Japanese invasion and brutalization before and during WW II, followed by another 5 years of ruinous civil war with the CCP.

    The Russian Revolution of 1917 ultimately resulted in the radical Bolsheviks seizing power, led to years of civil war with active involvement by world powers, and decades of brutal mis-rule under Stalin.

    The successful Communist Revolution in China in 1949 resulted in 3 decades of brutal mis-rule under Mao.

    The democratic revolutions across the former Eastern Bloc actually worked out OK, but it is depressing how quickly illiberalism is on the rise in Poland, Hungary and Czechia.

    The 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia brought the highly problematic Saakashivili to power, with strong authoritarian tendencies.

    A string of corrupt opportunists followed the 2004 Orange Revolution in the Ukraine.

    Years of political turmoil, violence and suspect elections followed the 2005 Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan.

    The Arab Spring resulted in failed states in Syria, Yemen and Libya, and return to military rule in Egypt. The Obama administration acquiesced to Saudi intervention in Bahrain to suppress the Shiite led protests, for geopolitical reasons.

    As for Navalny, if he ever succeeds in overthrowing Putin, turning out like Saakashvili, Victor Orban or Boris Yeltsin might be the more positive potential outcomes.

    The best way for the US (and the West) to promote democracy around the world is by example, proving that democracy can overcome dire challenges and produce positive outcomes. The decades of “do as I say and not as I do” do not fly anymore.

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