Learn how the U.S., USSR, U.K. and China (the Four Policemen) argued over the aims of the draft U.N. Charter and how the minor powers induced liberal compromises at San Francisco in 1945. Explore how Eleanor Roosevelt managed political, religious and philosophical disputes about the meaning of “human rights” and achieved an uneasy agreement on a Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The compromises embedded in both the Charter and the Declaration enabled their adoption, and the foundation of international human rights principles, treaties and courts which continue to provoke varying interpretations and disputes today.
Suggested Reading: Consult the U.N. Charter and Universal Declaration on Human Rights at www.un.org.
Course Code
508861