Transnational NGOs and Human Rights in a post-9/11 World
Human Rights in the 21st Century: Continuity and Change Since 9/11, edited by Michael Goodhart and Anja Mihr, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, pp. 203-221
28 Pages Posted: 15 Jun 2012
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
The September 11, 2001 attacks and the subsequent military response by the administration of George W. Bush had significant consequences for the work of US-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on human rights-related issues around the world. NGOs active in the fields of humanitarian aid, development, and human rights faced challenges ranging from increased security threats to their staff, more governmental restrictions and violations of civil and political rights, and pressures to align themselves with foreign policy objectives of the United States. While the global environment for their operations deteriorated as a consequence of the terrorist attacks and violent state responses, transnational NGOs proved resilient and became a key defense for the international human rights regime. Transnational activists led by organizations such as Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) succeeded in halting a rapidly deteriorating respect for human rights in the United States and elsewhere. In the development and humanitarian sector, human rights ideas continued to flourish and gave rise to significant organizational and strategic innovations strengthening advocacy strategies in defense of explicit rights claims. The strength of the global human rights regime was tested by 9/11, but its power remains largely intact and its reach continues to expand.
Keywords: NGOs, transnational activism, 9/11, human rights
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