Human Rights and Foreign Policy: Conceptual and Operational Frameworks

During the past two decades, the issue of human rights has turned into one of the most serious topics of international debates. In no other time, has it been a foreign policy concern in bilateral and multilateral interactions among the states and has never had the impact that it currently has on the national security of countries. Development of communications as a result of globalization, universal nature of human rights, increased number of players, empowerment of persons as effective players in international relations, instrumental use of the human rights for political purposes, and collapse of political systems in the past two decades with emphasis on human rights elements are the main reasons behind the current focus on this issue. On the whole, human rights have changed from a theoretical and subjective issue to a vital and strategic one which is closely related to political life of countries. Therefore, the present paper assesses and analyzes relationship between human rights and foreign policy from two conceptual and operational viewpoints.