Carter’s Doctrine: Defense of Human Rights or Protection of Dictatorship?

The United States in 1970s asked its allies in the satellite states, including Iran, to launch some reforms to contain Communism. Jimmy Carter in his election speeches and doctrine promised not further support its authoritarian allies and encourage them to observe human rights, but in practice instead of what he called “absolute commitment” to human rights, he stood on the side of the Iranian dictator. The question of this research is: What are the reasons for the contradiction between the theory and practice regarding the Carter’s Doctrine? Hypothesis: Carter’s Doctrine was formulated for the protection of the capitalist system’s interests within the paradigm of the Cold War and since its implementation would endanger the interests of the capitalist system, it faced contradiction in practice. Research Content analysis has been employed and therefore Carter’s speeches and messages as well as related documents have been used to collect the data. The findings of the research indicate that Iran’s geopolitical situation in the Cold War paradigm caused Carter to set aside his Doctrine and instead of trying to promote human rights he closed his eyes to the Shah’s dictatorial rule in order to contain Soviet Communism. The trend of sacrificing human rights in the slaughter house of capitalist interests has been continuing till date.