THE UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES ACCORDING TO NOAM CHOMSKY

Abstract

Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State, argued once that “America has been created by divine providence to lead the world.” Some scholars agree with such a statement but others argue that the U.S. foreign policy not only contradicts such ideology but furthermore it is to blame for the suffering of many peoples around the world, by abusing the principal rights of human beings and by supporting authoritarian governments and violators of fundamental human rights. There are many critics on the means that the United States uses with regards to foreign policy, and the double standard on promoting democracy on one hand, and collaborating with dictators on the other hand, sets a double standard. The most prominent critic of the US foreign policy is the internationally well known scholar Noam Chomsky. He has long kept up a second career as a cogent voice of the left, excoriating American imperialism, critiquing American foreign policy and attacking global economic injustice and violation of human rights. In his book The umbrella of the U.S. power, Chomsky observed the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a "Path to a Better World" while chronicling how far off the trail the United States was with respect to actual practice and conduct. He examined how the U.S. not only violated the Universal Declaration, but at times used it as a weapon to wield selectively against designated enemies. We find the same writing in other books by Chomsky such as Rogue States, 9-11, Acts of Aggression, the collection of essays, Human Rights Fifty Years On - A Reappraisal, etc. In his writings and open lectures, Chomsky's critiques on American foreign policy started from the Marshall Plan up to the present day. He refers to the U.S. as one of the "worst violators" of human rights, and a country that stood accused before the international Court of Justice for the "unlawful use of force" in its terrorist war against Nicaragua, the attack against South Vietnam, Indonesia, and more.
The cases of U.S. military interventions observed by Chomsky are numerous and they all come as support to his statements that the U.S. is "regarded as a rogue state.” This paper will evaluate some of Noam Chomsky's views on the U.S. foreign policy and Human rights issues. The allegations made by Chomsky and the cases mentioned by him are numerous but I will focus on the relation between U.S. foreign policy and the UDHR, the military interventions, economic sanctions, national security, national interest, domestic factors, the Human Rights World Conference in Vienna, 1993, and an evaluation of the U.S. Presidents' policies on human rights.