Conservatives Must Not Abandon Human Rights to the Left

Conservatives have long had a complicated relationship with the United Nations (UN); however, criticism of the UN, and particularly of the human rights project that the UN birthed and sustains, has grown louder in recent years. While much of this criticism is justified, certain sectors of the right fail to grasp that the UN-based human rights project is both a colossal failure and an extraordinary achievement. Discussions of how to respond to the failure can only translate into sound policy if they are grounded in an appreciation of the foundational principles and ongoing power of the modern human rights project.