Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T02:35:07.442Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Making Sense of Human Rights Diplomacy: Evidence from a US Campaign to Free Political Prisoners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2021

Rachel Myrick Open the ORCID record for Rachel Myrick [Opens in a new window]  and
Jeremy M. Weinstein Open the ORCID record for Jeremy M. Weinstein [Opens in a new window]
Get access

Abstract

Scholarship on human rights diplomacy (HRD)—efforts by government officials to engage publicly and privately with their foreign counterparts—often focuses on actions taken to “name and shame” target countries because private diplomatic activities are unobservable. To understand how HRD works in practice, we explore a campaign coordinated by the US government to free twenty female political prisoners. We compare release rates of the featured women to two comparable groups: a longer list of women considered by the State Department for the campaign; and other women imprisoned simultaneously in countries targeted by the campaign. Both approaches suggest that the campaign was highly effective. We consider two possible mechanisms through which expressive public HRD works: by imposing reputational costs and by mobilizing foreign actors. However, in-depth interviews with US officials and an analysis of media coverage find little evidence of these mechanisms. Instead, we argue that public pressure resolved deadlock within the foreign policy bureaucracy, enabling private diplomacy and specific inducements to secure the release of political prisoners. Entrepreneurial bureaucrats leveraged the spotlight on human rights abuses to overcome competing equities that prevent government-led coercive diplomacy on these issues. Our research highlights the importance of understanding the intersection of public and private diplomacy before drawing inferences about the effectiveness of HRD.

Keywords

Human rightsdiplomacypolitical prisonersbureaucracyUS foreign policy
Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 76 , Issue 2 , Spring 2022 , pp. 379 - 413
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baker, James A. 1995. The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War, and Peace, 1989–1992. Putnam Adult.Google Scholar
Barry, Colin M., Clay, K. Chad, and Flynn, Michael E.. 2013. Avoiding the Spotlight: Human Rights Shaming and Foreign Direct Investment. International Studies Quarterly 57 (3):532–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayer, Reşat. 2006. Diplomatic Exchange Data Set v 2006.1. Correlates of War Project, available at < https://correlatesofwar.org >..>Google Scholar
Burns, William J. 2019. The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal. Random House.Google Scholar
Cardenas, Sonia. 2007. Conflict and Compliance: State Responses to International Human Rights Pressure. University of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carnegie, Allison. 2021. Secrecy in International Relations and Foreign Policy. Annual Review of Political Science 24:213–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carnegie, Allison, and Carson, Austin. 2018. The Spotlight's Harsh Glare: Rethinking Publicity and International Order. International Organization 72 (3):627–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carson, Austin. 2018. Secret Wars: Covert Conflict in International Politics. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Carson, Austin, and Yarhi-Milo, Keren. 2017. Covert Communication: The Intelligibility and Credibility of Signaling in Secret. Security Studies 26 (56):124–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, Huimin, Wang, Ye, Ma, Ping, and Murdie, Amanda. 2021. Communities and Brokers: How the Transnational Advocacy Network Simultaneously Provides Social Power and Exacerbates Global Inequalities. International Studies Quarterly 65 (3):724–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cinelli, Carlos, and Hazlett, Chad. 2020. Making Sense of Sensitivity: Extending Omitted Variable Bias. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 82 (1):39–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clinton, Hillary Rodham. 2014. Hard Choices. Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Cole, Wade. 2005. Sovereignty Relinquished? Explaining Commitment to the International Human Rights Covenants, 1966–1999. American Sociological Review 70 (3):472–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, Wade. 2012. Human Rights as Myth and Ceremony? Re-evaluating the Effectiveness of Human Rights Treaties. American Journal of Sociology 117 (4):1131–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Record, Congressional. 2015a. September 22, 2015 S6898: Senate Resolution 262 to Support the Empowerment of Women and Urge Countries to Free the 20.Google Scholar
Record, Congressional. 2015b. March 26, 2015 S2027: Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Dietrich, Simone, and Murdie, Amanda. 2017. Human Rights Shaming Through INGOs and Foreign Aid Delivery. Review of International Organizations 12 (1):95–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drury, A. Cooper. 2001. Sanctions as Coercive Diplomacy: The US President's Decision to Initiate Economic Sanctions. Political Research Quarterly 54 (3):485–508.Google Scholar
Eshbaugh-Soha, Matthew. 2006. The President's Speeches: Beyond “Going Public.” Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Fearon, James. 1994. Domestic Political Audiences and the Escalation of International Disputes. American Political Science Review 88 (3):577–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forsythe, David P. 1995. Human Rights and US Foreign Policy: Two Levels, Two Worlds. Political Studies 43 (1):111–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forsythe, David P. 2018. Human Rights in International Relations. 4th ed. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Defenders, Front Line. 2017. Case History: Bui Thi Minh Hang, Available at <https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-bui-thi-minh-hang>..>Google Scholar
George, Alexander L. 1991. Forceful Persuasion: Coercive Diplomacy as an Alternative to War. United States Institute of Peace Press.Google Scholar
Goldsmith, Jack L., and Posner, Eric A.. 2005. The Limits of International Law. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Goodliffe, Jay, and Hawkins, Darren. 2006. Explaining Commitment: States and the Convention Against Torture. Journal of Politics 68 (2):358–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, Ryan, and Jinks, Derek. 2003. Measuring the Effects of Human Rights Treaties. European Journal of International Law 14 (1):171–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grambsch, Patricia M., and Therneau, Terry M.. 1994. Proportional Hazards Tests and Diagnostics Based on Weighted Residuals. Biometrika 81 (3):515–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gruffydd-Jones, Jamie J. 2019. Citizens and Condemnation: Strategic Uses of International Human Rights Pressure in Authoritarian States. Comparative Political Studies 52 (4):579–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gvosdev, Nikolas K., Blankshain, Jessica D., and Cooper, David A.. 2019. Decision-Making in American Foreign Policy. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafner-Burton, Emilie M. 2008. Sticks and Stones: Naming and Shaming the Human Rights Enforcement Problem. International Organization 62 (4):689–716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafner-Burton, Emilie M., and Tsutsui, Kiyoteru. 2005. Human Rights in a Globalizing World: The Paradox of Empty Promises. American Journal of Sociology 110 (5):1373–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafner-Burton, Emilie M., and Tsutsui, Kiyoteru. 2007. Justice Lost! The Failure of International Human Rights Law to Matter Where Needed Most. Journal of Peace Research 44 (4):407–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hathaway, Oona A. 2002. Do Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference? Yale Law Journal 111:1935–2042.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hathaway, Oona A. 2004. The Promise and Limits of the International Law of Torture. In Torture: A Collection, edited by Levinson, Sanford, 199–212. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hathaway, Oona A. 2007. Why Do Countries Commit to Human Rights Treaties? Journal of Conflict Resolution 51 (4):588–621.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, Darren. 2004. Explaining Costly International Institutions: Persuasion and Enforceable Human Rights Norms. International Studies Quarterly 48 (4):779–804.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollyer, James R., and Rosendorff, B. Peter. 2011. Why Do Authoritarian Regimes Sign the Convention Against Torture? Signaling, Domestic Politics, and Noncompliance. Quarterly Journal of Political Science 6 (3):275–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, Alastair Iain. 2001. Treating International Institutions as Social Environments. International Studies Quarterly 45 (4):487–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katagiri, Azusa, and Min, Eric. 2019. The Credibility of Public and Private Signals: A Document-Based Approach. American Political Science Review 113 (1):156–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keck, Margaret E., and Sikkink, Kathryn. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Keith, Linda Camp. 1999. The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Does It Make a Difference in Human Rights Behavior? Journal of Peace Research 36 (1):95–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelley, Judith. 2004. International Actors on the Domestic Scene: Membership Conditionality and Socialization by International Institutions. International Organization 58 (3):425–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelley, Judith. 2017. Scorecard Diplomacy: Grading States to Influence Their Reputation and Behavior. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelley, Judith, and Nielson, Daniel. 2015. Database of Amnesty International Urgent Actions. Unpublished, Duke University and University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Kelley, Judith G., and Simmons, Beth A.. 2015. Politics by Number: Indicators as Social Pressure in International Relations. American Journal of Political Science 59 (1):55–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kernell, Samuel H. 2006. Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership. CQ Press.Google Scholar
Kurizaki, Shuhei. 2007. Efficient Secrecy: Public Versus Private Threats in Crisis Diplomacy. American Political Science Review 101 (3):543–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lebovic, James H., and Saunders, Elizabeth N.. 2016. The Diplomatic Core: The Determinants of High-Level US Diplomatic Visits, 1946–2010. International Studies Quarterly 60 (1):107–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lebovic, James H., and Voeten, Erik. 2009. The Cost of Shame: International Organizations and Foreign Aid in the Punishing of Human Rights Violators. Journal of Peace Research 46 (1):79–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maley, William. 2016. Quiet and Secret Diplomacy. In The Sage Handbook of Diplomacy, edited by Constantinou, Costas M., Kerr, Pauline and Sharp, Paul, 451–61. Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McManus, Roseanne W. 2017. Statements of Resolve: Achieving Coercive Credibility in International Conflict. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McManus, Roseanne, and Yarhi-Milo, Keren. 2017. The Logic of “Offstage” Signaling: Domestic Politics, Regime Type, and Major Power-Protege Relations. International Organization 71 (4):701–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milewicz, Karolina, Holloway, James, Peacock, Claire, and Snidal, Duncan. 2016. Beyond Trade: The Expanding Scope of the Nontrade Agenda in Trade Agreements. Journal of Conflict Resolution 62 (4):743–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, Clifton T., Bapat, Navin, and Kobayashi, Yoshi. 2014. The Threat and Imposition of Sanctions: Updating the TIES Dataset. Conflict Management and Peace Science 31 (5):541–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mullerson, Rein. 1997. Human Rights Diplomacy. Routledge.Google Scholar
Murdie, Amanda, and Bhasin, Tavishi. 2011. Aiding and Abetting: Human Rights INGOs and Domestic Protest. Journal of Conflict Resolution 55 (2):163–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murdie, Amanda, and Davis, David R.. 2012. Shaming and Blaming: Using Events Data to Assess the Impact of Human Rights INGOs. International Studies Quarterly 56 (1):1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murdie, Amanda, and Peksen, Dursun. 2014. The Impact of Human Rights INGO Shaming on Humanitarian Interventions. Journal of Politics 76 (1):215–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neumayer, Eric. 2005. Do International Human Rights Treaties Improve Respect for Human Rights? Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (6):925–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, Richard A. 2013. Rewarding Human Rights? Selective Aid Sanctions against Repressive States. International Studies Quarterly 57 (4):791–803.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, Richard A., and Simmons, Beth A.. 2015. Rewards for Ratification: Payoffs for Participating in International Human Rights Regime? International Studies Quarterly 59 (2):197–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peksen, Dursun. 2009. Better or Worse? The Effect of Economic Sanctions on Human Rights. Journal of Peace Research 46 (1):59–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peksen, Dursun, Peterson, Timothy M., and Drury, A. Cooper. 2014. Media-Driven Humanitarianism? News Media Coverage of Human Rights Abuses and the Use of Economic Sanctions. International Studies Quarterly 58 (4):855–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PEN America. 2015. Ta Phong Tan: Vietnam, Available at <https://pen.org/advocacy-case/ta-phong-tan/>..>Google Scholar
Power, Samantha. 2019. The Education of an Idealist. Dey Street Books.Google Scholar
Risse, Thomas, Ropp, Stephen C. and Sikkink, Kathryn. 1999. The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ron, James, Ramos, Howard and Rodgers, Kathleen. 2005. Transnational Information Politics: NGO Human Rights Reporting, 1986–2000. International Studies Quarterly 49 (3):557–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schultz, Kenneth. 2001. Democracy and Coercive Diplomacy. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sechser, Todd, and Fuhrmann, Matthew. 2017. Nuclear Weapons and Coercive Diplomacy. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sikkink, Kathryn. 2011. The Justice Cascade: How Human Rights Prosecutions Are Changing World Politics. Norton.Google Scholar
Simmons, Beth. 2009. Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, Beth. 2010. Treaty Compliance and Violation. Annual Review of Political Science 13:273–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slantchev, Branislav. 2005. Military Coercion in Interstate Crises. American Political Science Review 99 (4):533–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Alastair. 1998. International Crises and Domestic Politics. American Political Science Review 92 (3):623–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, Jack. 2020. Backlash Against Human Rights Shaming: Emotions in Groups. International Theory 12 (1):109–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terman, Rochelle. 2016. Backlash: Defiance, Human Rights, and the Politics of Shame. PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Terman, Rochelle. 2019. Rewarding Resistance: Theorizing Defiance to International Shaming. Working paper, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Terman, Rochelle, and Voeten, Erik. 2018. The Relational Politics of Shame: Evidence from the Universal Periodic Review. Review of International Organizations 13 (1):1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomz, Michael. 2007. Domestic Audience Costs in International Relations: An Experimental Approach. International Organization 61 (4):821–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trager, Robert F. 2017. Diplomacy: Communication and the Origins of International Order. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vogelgesang, Sandy. 1979. Diplomacy of Human Rights. International Studies Quarterly 23 (2):216–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von Stein, Jana. 2015. Making Promises, Keeping Promises: Democracy, Ratification, and Compliance in International Human Rights Law. British Journal of Political Science 46 (3):655–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vreeland, James. 2008. Political Institutions and Human Rights: Why Dictatorships Enter into the United Nations Convention Against Torture. International Organization 62 (1):65–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wotipka, Chrstine Min, and Tsutsui, Kiyoteru. 2008. Global Human Rights and State Sovereignty: State Ratification of International Human Rights Treaties, 1965–2001. Sociological Forum 23 (4):724–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yarhi-Milo, Keren. 2013. Tying Hands Behind Closed Doors: The Logic and Practice of Secret Reassurance. Security Studies 22 (3):405–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Myrick and Weinstein supplementary material

Myrick and Weinstein supplementary material

Download Myrick and Weinstein supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 1.8 MB
Supplementary material: Link

Myrick and Weinstein Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/T2W8VV
Link