Although our era is marked by human rights rhetoric, human wrongs continue to be committed with impunity, and the idea of human rights is becoming impoverished.

From the very beginning, US human rights foreign policy has been oriented toward domestic national interests, but as Bait and Switch? concludes, there's something remarkably new and threatening about the American-centrism and exceptionalism in US human rights policy and practices today. Although our era is marked by human rights rhetoric, human wrongs continue to be committed with impunity, and the idea of human rights is becoming impoverished. Mertus found there was no evidence, beyond the rhetoric, that human rights are 'embedded' in foreign policy decisions. Our military and foreign policy leaders do not take human rights issues 'for granted', and their rhetorical adherence to human rights principles has, surprisingly, not lead to consistent human rights behaviours. Bait and Switch? shows that, from the Cold War to Kosovo, too many other factors serve to trump human rights and undermine the legitimacy of human rights institutions.

1. All that Glitters... 2. The Lingua Franca of Diplomacy? Human rights and the post-Cold War presidencies 3. The New Military Humanism? Human rights and the US military 4. Raising Expectations? Civil society's influence on human rights and US foreign policy 5. Conclusion: Bait and Switch? Endnotes
List of Interviews Bibliography Index