The Latest

President Biden’s decision to fully extend the treaty without condition was mostly met with a figurative sigh of relief from arms control advocates and those who seek a world “free of nuclear weapons.” But Americans should be sober-minded about the real impact of the treaty, and not be lulled into believing New START, or any one treaty, will moderate US adversaries or better position the United States in our competition with either Russia or China.

But it’s important for the souls of democracies that, even as they must make nasty accommodations in pursuit of a wider good, that they fully admit to themselves this reality, without self-delusion.

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.

For years the international community has decried gross violations of human rights inside the prison camps. The recent expansion of the prison camp system, however, increases the need for the US government to take substantive actions to address human rights issues in North Korea.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ (UDHR) impact across the globe was beyond what Eleanor Roosevelt and its drafters could have imagined. As we look forward, the human rights agenda is in great need of reform and renewal. Perhaps a return to the spirit of 1948 and the wisdom of its original drafters can provide wisdom for the future.

We’re going to discuss three pieces from Providence this week. Firstly, an interview with Joshua Mauldin at the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton, regarding his new book on Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and modern politics. Secondly, we will discuss Paul Marshall’s piece on the Ayatollah Sistani and Islamic rule, or Islamic rule in Iraq. And finally, Marc LiVecche will share about his own piece on integrity.

In 1946 when the prospects for what would become the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) appeared dim, President Harry Truman appointed Eleanor Roosevelt to a UN committee where she could promote universal human rights.

Observations about hostilities short of war, Once An Eagle and the importance of duty, and what Inspector Javert can teach us about moral injury and right belief

Needless to say, demands for complete justice in this world, humanly rather than divinely enacted, are dangerous, potentially lethal, and inevitably will be disappointed.