Human Rights & the New Realism

An inquiry into the nature of human rights, the relationship of the issue of human rights to policy making and strategic thinking, and the effect of the human rights issue on the conflict between the Soviet Union and the Western liberal democracies. Michael Novak begins by boldly stating five theses of human rights. He proceeds to clarify what he means by human rights in the Judeo-Christian tradition that underlies Western political thought and concludes with a variety of policy recommendations.

Michael Novak holds the George Frederick Jewett Chair at the American Enterprise Institute and is the author of numerous books, including The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism and Freedom with Justice. He is a founding editor of This World and Catholicism in Crisis.