Balancing Security and Human Rights: The Continuing Quest for Human Dignity

Abstract

Mahmood considers why there remains relatively little prospect of eliminating all obstacles to protecting human rights in the twenty-first century. Applying universal human rights standards across the globe is fraught with risks and challenges. Mahmood argues that the current human rights campaign must come to grips with the question of how best to improve human rights in the developing world in light of the complexity and diversity of security as well as socioeconomic and cultural contexts.