Originally published on the CGS blog on November 18, 2014.
This Letter to the Editor was published in The Washington Post on November 14, 2014.
In his Nov. 9 op-ed, “What the World Bank won’t utter,” Philip Alston made the case for the World Bank to support human rights, but he ignored the role that protecting human rights (and addressing global poverty) plays in ensuring the security of all nations. Too many nations, including the United States, resist enforcing human rights because doing so would hamper “national interests” — code for the short-term economic and political interests of the governing or ruling elite.
With the horrors of World War II still fresh in hearts and minds — governments murdering their own people and the invention of weapons capable of vaporizing thousands of innocent people in a flash — the prevention of another war was paramount. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights passed unanimously in 1948 because it was painfully clear that the human security such protections would bring was a precursor to global security.
Evolving threats such as Ebola, the Islamic State and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction cannot be controlled without the protection of the fundamental rights and dignity of all people. Protecting fundamental human rights, such as access to clean water, food, education and basic health services, might not help the short-term interests of the powerful but will support their long-term security and prosperity.
Chuck Woolery, Rockville
