Aaron Rhodes

Even as problems persist with the enforcement of international law, we must not forget the natural law precepts that still govern international relations as articulated by theorists like Hugo Grotius

Despite calls for America to stop promoting democracy abroad, the truth is that autocratic regimes are intrinsically unstable and can be relied upon neither by the US nor by their own citizens

Russia’s Soviet-era propaganda techniques, though having ultimately failed during the Cold War, are back and more effective than ever

The concept of individual, inherent natural rights as negative liberty has been merged into a capacious and still proliferating array of other rights

The Russian Federation’s expulsion from the Council of Europe on March 16, 2022, and its forthcoming exit from the European Convention on Human Rights were precipitated by the invasion of Ukraine. But they follow a long and fraught history of conflict between Russia and European human rights institutions, a story that holds lessons about the proper purpose and composition of international formations aimed at protecting and promoting human rights.

Today, after Russia has completely abjured socialist ideals, leftist “peace” movements promote Russian foreign policy narratives. What, then, motivates them?

Liberal democracies have done virtually nothing to counter China’s human rights propaganda, by which the Chinese Communist Party ruthlessly appropriates the concept of human rights to promote its version of Marxist ideology and glamorize its hegemonic global ambitions.

The fact that many in Congress, as well as large segments of the American electorate and commentariat, consider court-packing a morally legitimate political tactic reveals serious deficits in our society’s understanding of and respect for the rule of law, America’s founding principles, and justice itself. What is more, it shows disrespect for the very idea of truth.

Today any serious book searching for the meaning of rights, natural rights, and human rights is welcome, but in “What’s Wrong with Rights?” Biggar seems preoccupied with a straw man—the claim that rights are absolute.

While the Trump administration has distanced itself from multilateralism with an “America First” approach, the Chinese communist regime has sought to promote and exploit multilateralism in pursuit of a “China First” policy, one that is at variance not only with America’s national interests, but with those of the rest of the world’s sovereign states as well.