U.S. has special responsibility to stand up for human rights

It is probably apocryphal, but President Franklin Roosevelt reportedly noted that a particular South American dictator was a sonofabitch, but "he's our sonofabitch."

That distills realpolitik to its stark essence - power divorced from any messy ideals.

Those who believe that the world is a brutal place tend to gravitate toward a foreign policy that is muscular, suspicious of diplomacy and multilateralism, and tolerant of bad behavior in other countries' domestic realm as long as that country remains a strong and loyal ally.

During the existential struggle of the Cold War, the United States tolerated a good deal of bad behavior so long as nations maintained a strong anti-communist stance. However, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, previous American leaders - both Republicans and Democrats - saw an opportunity to foster democracy and liberal values that included the rule of law and market-based economics.

There is no clearer example that President George W. Bush's second inaugural address, which he hoped would be remembered in history as the "freedom speech". Bush said in part:

"America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time. So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

Such soaring rhetoric has largely disappeared from our public discourse and the post-Cold War hopes have been thrown into reverse around the world. Authoritarian leaders rule Turkey, the Philippines, and Egypt. Nationalists hold sway in Poland and Hungary and, soon, in Brazil. Only a shaky coalition government in Tunisia maintains a weak spark of what was once the Arab Spring.

In its most recent report, Freedom House reports that in the last year democracy around the globe has faced its most serious crisis in decades as free and fair elections, the rights of minorities and of the press and the rule of law came under increasing attacks. Seventy-one countries suffered a decline in political rights. Only 35 made gains. Polling by Freedom House reveals that more than 70 percent of Americans still believe that our foreign policy should support democracy and democratic values.

This is the dilemma facing the United States as it tries to decide how to respond to the murder of Washington Post opinion writer Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. The president's approach is purely transactional. Saudi Arabia is a rich country with a great deal of oil that buys billions of dollars in weapons from the United States and could be the centerpiece of an "Arab NATO" that would act as a counterweight to Iran in the region.

The president's supporters will argue that he "tells it like it is," and American interests cannot be set aside because of the murder of one journalist, as heinous as that crime might be. Find someone to take the fall and let's move on.

However, if the United States will not stand up for human rights, who will? Moral outrage divorced from true power evaporates in the choking atmosphere of lies, conspiracy theories, and propaganda. The proper response to a world where rights are under threat is to push back hard, and the United States - because of its history, its creed, and its ideals - has a special responsibility to play that role.

Keith Peterson, of Lake Barrington, served 29 years as a press and cultural officer for the United States Information Agency and Department of State. He was chief editorial writer of the Daily Herald 1984-86.