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ac- Credibility (Soft Power)
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- U.S. human rights credibility is key to overall soft power.
- US soft power maintains peace and stability
1ac- Credibility (Soft Power)Dismissive nature of civilian casualties in strikes hurts human rights credibilityTirman, 12- Writer for the Washington Post (John, “Why do we ignore the civilians killed in American wars?”, Washington Post, 1/6/12, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-do-we-ignore-the-civilians-killed-in-american-wars/2011/12/05/gIQALCO4eP_story.html)//KTC These attitudes have consequences. Perhaps the most important one — apart from the tensions created with the host governments, which have been quite vocal in protesting civilian casualties — is that indifference provides permission to our military and political leaders to pursue more interventions. There are costs to our global reputation as well: The United States, which should be regarded as a principal advocate of human rights, undermines its credibility when it is so dismissive of civilian casualties in its wars. Appealing for international action on Sudan, Syria and other countries may sound hypocritical when our own attitudes about civilians are so cold. Korean War historian Bruce Cumings calls this neglect the “hegemony of forgetting, in which almost everything to do with the war is buried history.” Will we ever stop burying memories of war’s destruction? More attention to the human costs may jolt the American public into a more compassionate understanding. When we build the memorial for Operation Iraqi Freedom, let’s mention that Iraqi civilians were part of the carnage. Count them, and maybe we can start to recognize and remember the larger tolls of the wars we wage. U.S. human rights credibility is key to overall soft power.Hooper et al. 15 — Melissa Hooper, Director of the International Law Scholarship Project/Pillar Project at Human Rights First, former Regional Director for Russia and Azerbaijan for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative in Moscow, holds a J.D. from the University of California-Berkeley School of Law, with Ignacio Mujica, Robert L. Bernstein International Human Rights Fellow at Human Rights First, and Megan Corrarino, Robert L. Bernstein International Human Rights Fellow with Human Rights First, 2015 (“U.S. Must Affirm Leadership Role on Human Rights,” New York Law Journal, February 27th, Available Online at http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202719078471/US-Must-Affirm-Leadership-Role-on-Human-Rights#ixzz3eZkOWa00, Accessed 06-30-2015) The United States once positioned itself as a human rights leader, and that moral authority gave it considerable soft power around the world. U.S. leadership was instrumental in creating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The significant due process components of the U.S. justice system have been used as the basis for rule-of-law reforms in numerous other countries. The United States still has among the broadest frameworks for protection for free speech and freedom of religion in the world. But any claim that the United States might have to leadership in human rights is undermined by the fact that, over the past decade and a half, it has failed to satisfy its own international legal obligations. The most famous and egregious examples are those that have come from the so-called "War on Terror," reliance on torture as outlined in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report, and arbitrary detention of prisoners at Guantánamo, often based on secret evidence without access to due process. But there are many other areas where the United States has contributed to a culture of impunity and indifference to international law: repatriating people to countries where they are likely to face torture or death, in violation of the Convention Against Torture and the Refugee Convention; imprisoning more of its population than any other country in the world in violation of international law principles of proportionality, personal dignity and anti-discrimination; and continuing to imprison individuals in conditions that are shocking to the conscience, in violation of the obligation to refrain from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This disconnect between the legal principles that the United States purports to uphold and its actual practice is one reason why Human Rights First has been working with leading scholars, practitioners and policymakers to urge the United States to reassume its leadership role in the sphere of human rights by adhering to the international norms that it consistently urges other countries to observe. For the United States to credibly address extrajudicial killings in Pakistan; arbitrary detention in Belarus, China, Cuba, North Korea, and Syria; or global prison conditions, it must ensure that its own practices adhere to international legal standards.
We must make the U.S. judicial system a place where this country more consistently lives up to its international obligations. This means giving detainees access to justice, prosecuting torturers, granting asylum when a refugee has met the legal criteria, and ensuring that our jurisprudence comports with our international treaty obligations, which are binding on U.S. courts under article VI of the Constitution. Human rights law is thriving around the world. Courts in Canada, Latin America, Europe, India and South Africa, among others, are developing bodies of jurisprudence that incorporate human rights law and citing international and comparative law in their decisions. International tribunals, such as the International Court of Justice, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, hold states accountable to protect refugees, to adopt mechanisms to prosecute torture, and to provide humane conditions for prisoners. As the rest of the world is taking these steps forward, however gradual, the United States must not allow itself to step backward and lose its moral credibility by backing down from its international legal commitments. Human rights law is only as irrelevant as we allow it to be. The United States is still a leader on the world stage, and what it does matters. If we want to hold other states accountable for human rights violations and promote the global legitimacy of human rights, we must honor our own international legal obligations and recognize that they are an integral part of the law of the land. US soft power maintains peace and stabilityWilliams 14 (Trevor, editor of Global Atlanta, “U.S. Soft Power key to Global Stability,” Global Atlanta, 9/29/14, http://www.globalatlanta.com/article/27191/isakson-us-soft-power-key-to-global-security/)//kjz America still has an unrivaled level of influence in the world, but the key to achieving long-term peace is marrying military strength with moves to boost education, health and economic development in conflict areas, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said Monday. While he sees “peace through strength” as a valid doctrine, American “soft power” portrayed through trade and humanitarian outreach globally will help solidify stability won through power. “Strength will get you the peace originally but it’s good soft power that keeps the peace,” Mr. Isakson said at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead during a speech on foreign aid hosted by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. Focusing heavily on Africa, Mr. Isakson sought to debunk the idea that American influence in the world is waning, using travel tales to support the idea that the American reputation is alive and well thanks to the work of the U.S. government as well as corporations and nonprofits around the globe. “It’s about telling America’s story to the American people themselves. I know sometimes we forget,” the senator said. U.S. Visa Glitch Leaves Travelers in LimboMetro Atlanta Chamber Supports 'Open Innovation' as Key to Regional GrowthCan Technology Fix the Air Travel Experience? Popeyes Plans More International GrowthAfter Dispute, Atlanta Loses Nobel Summit From Coca-Cola’s clean water work in Ghana to MANA’s nutritional paste made from Georgia peanuts saving lives in Somalia to the decision to hand out U.S.-backed micro loans to Iraqi merchants after the invasion, America is still invested in using its strength for the good of the world, he said, mentioning multiple times the PEPFAR program, which provides antiretroviral drugs to help stem mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa. Formerly the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s sub-committee on Africa, he contrasted the U.S. approach in Africa to that of China, framing one of the U.S.’s largest trade partners as a “competitor" on the continent that exploits African resources and builds infrastructure but not capacity. He was also unequivocal in labeling the air strikes aimed at debilitating and destroying ISIS in Iraq constituted a “dangerous war, the ultimate war between good and evil.” When the U.S.-led coalition has won, it will have to provide those affected by the war the same type of redevelopment assistance it gave Germany, Korea and Japan after emerging victorious in conflicts with those nations. “America doesn’t bomb and leave; America stays and builds, and that’s the difference in us and any other nation on the face of this earth,” he said. Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 0.86 Mb. Share with your friends:
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