Do Human Rights and Rules-Based Systems Still Matter? Prof. Pearl Eliadis

Do Human Rights and Rules-Based Systems Still Matter?

2023 marked the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a central accomplishment of the post-war era. And yet, the first quarter of this century has seen precipitous drops in democracy and upsurges of authoritarianism. Vast and growing numbers of people are displaced by conflict, crime and climate change.

It may seem unclear to many today whether we should be celebrating or mourning the Declaration’s anniversary in 2024. Still, it codifies centuries of experience and draws deeply on reserves of scholarship and shared history. Like the democratic values that it articulates, human rights continue to evolve and to offer a viable— perhaps the only viable —set of norms and values on which a global order can be based and peace secured.