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The Geopolitics of Shaming: When Human Rights Pressure Works--and When It Backfires

The Geopolitics of Shaming: When Human Rights Pressure Works--and When It Backfires

By Rochelle Terman
Princeton University Press, 2023, 216 pp.
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Reviewed by G. John Ikenberry

March/April 2024Published on
In This Review
The Geopolitics of Shaming: When Human Rights Pressure Works--and When It Backfires

The Geopolitics of Shaming: When Human Rights Pressure Works--and When It Backfires

By Rochelle Terman

Princeton University Press, 2023, 216 pp.
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Human rights have grown in importance in world politics, but their enforcement remains notoriously erratic and selective. Terman breaks important ground in illuminating when, how, and under what conditions states engage in "naming and shaming" other countries to punish them for human rights transgressions. Terman's key insight is that geopolitics matters: leaders wield shaming as a weapon in pursuit of power, status, and legitimacy. States are more likely to go after the violations of adversaries than those of friends and allies because they are more interested in inflicting reputational damage on opponents than in addressing the violations themselves. Similarly, leaders are more reluctant to reproach a violator when strategic interests are at stake. Many Muslim states, for instance, have refused to condemn China's abuse of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang because they fear undermining important trade relations. The book shows that countries accused of bad behavior rarely mend their ways and that in some cases, shaming can backfire and prompt the further erosion of human rights. Terman does not deny the importance of upholding human rights standards, but she does demonstrate quite elegantly that politics and state interests lurk at every turn.


This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/geopolitics-shaming-when-human-rights-pressure-works-and-when-it-backfires


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