Even Trump can be cajoled into advancing human rights – you just have to know which buttons to press | Kenneth Roth
www.theguardian.com
Wed, 19 Feb 2025 16:00:33 +0200
The signs arent good so far, but playing on Trumps desperation to be seen as a great dealmaker would pay dividendsKenneth Roth is a former executive director of Human Rights Watch.
His book, Righting Wrongs, is published on 25 FebruaryThe common wisdom is that Donald Trumps foreign policy will be a disaster for human rights.
Certainly his penchant for embracing autocrats and breaching norms bodes poorly, such as his outrageous proposal to force two million Palestinians out of Gaza which would be a blatant war crime or his suggestion that Ukraine is to blame for Russias invasion.
But Trump also likes to cut a deal, as shown by his paradoxically positive role in securing the current precarious Gaza ceasefire.
If Trump the dealmaker can be nudged in the right direction, he might, against all odds, be brought to play a productive role for human rights.As executive director of Human Rights Watch, I spent more than three decades devising strategies to pressure or cajole leaders to better respect rights.
I have dealt with brutal dictators, selfserving autocrats and misguided democrats.
My experience shows that there is always an angle something the leader cares about that can be used to steer them in a more rightsrespecting direction.Kenneth Roth is a former executive director of Human Rights Watch.
His book, Righting Wrongs, is published on 25 February Continue reading...
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