The League of Iowa Human & Civil Rights Agencies

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Monday laid out a human rights agenda that recognizes the limits of American authority: emphasizing the need for change within countries, defending engagement with adversaries like Myanmar and Iran and asserting that differences with big countries like China and Russia are best hashed out behind closed doors. “We must be pragmatic and agile in pursuit of our human rights agenda, not compromising on our principles, but doing what is most likely to make them real,” said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a wide-ranging address at Georgetown University.

Mrs. Clinton’s remarks came a week after President Obama, in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, warned there would be consequences for countries that brutalize their own people. Together, the speeches appeared to be an attempt to answer critics who claim the Obama administration has not staked out a forceful position on human rights. But while Mr. Obama’s tone was soaring, Mrs. Clinton’s was more earthbound. She offered a list of examples of how the United States can affect change in countries by working with democracy groups, multilateral organizations and socially responsible corporations.

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