Human Rights at the UN: The Political History of Universal Justice

International human rights law is based primarily on Western values and jurisprudence, but strong challenges from Asia and Africa have stimulated a lively debate over the issue. Thankfully, the current cultural gap has been bridged successfully by the team of Normand (Lahore Univ., Pakistan) and Zaidi (Center for Economic and Social Rights), who have produced an illuminating intellectual fusion. The authors carefully examine the historical background prior to WW II, and then distinguish between group and individual rights in the development of UN principles and covenants. They stress the lack of enforcement mechanisms, but praise the UN for giving birth to "the modern human rights regime." Not surprisingly, they blame the Cold War for the evident defects as the US and USSR were both reluctant to accept limitations on sovereignty. The end of the Cold War helped further the UN human rights agenda, but it still "remained dependent on voluntary state compliance with soft norms and policy targets." Normand and Zaidi are strongly critical of recent US policy, thus the latter sections of the book are increasingly polemical, but the authors do clearly announce that they are "human rights activists," not just scholars. Summing Up: Recommended.