Department of State

Wrongful detention is a threat to US persons everywhere, and should be a top priority in domestic and foreign policy.

Failing to address their democratic deficiencies sets up the US and G7 for long-term strategic failure and hinders economic prosperity.

"The United States should know that it cannot successfully pursue its security interests in the Asia-Pacific region at the expense of the basic rights of its partners’ citizens."

There was a time when the US didn't promote human rights or even consider it much of an objective in foreign policy at all.

An ambassador responds to a colleague: release, with appropriate redaction, would support, not inhibit, State Department accountability.

Conflict prevention routinely takes a back seat to immediate crises, and will require resources and attention to legal and bureaucratic gaps.

Forcing release of such material would chill candor, intimidate potential dissenters from speaking up, and inject an element of gamesmanship.

In countering transnational repression, "[c]ivil litigation provides a pathway for holding ... authoritarian regimes directly accountable, not just their hired guns, if significant…

The field shows important signs of critical gains but also more work to do to elevate women, particularly women of color.

Section 502B(c) is a potent tool to accelerate congressional oversight of support to countries with concerning human rights records. 

If the Biden administration wants to curb authoritarian trends, it should maintain its heightened attention to civil liberties in Georgia.

Unlike their approach to Ukraine, the partners have largely coddled Russian satellites whose actions increasingly destabilize the region.