Former U.S. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Keith Harper, will deliver the lecture, "Reassessing the Efficacy of the Rules-Based International Order in Promoting Human Rights, Peace, and Security in the Modern Age," at the annual Henkin Lecture Series on November 2, 2023.
The system of international laws, agreements, and institutions established after the Second World War—often referred to as the rules-based international order—has been remarkably enduring. The order entails international cooperation and norm establishment through multilateral institutions (like the United Nations and World Trade Organization) and is based on principles of human equality, open markets, security, cooperation, liberal democracy, and monetary cooperation.
The United States has invested over many decades to form, buttress, support and protect this order, spending treasure, time, and resources to promote human rights and a world of greater security. Has the system done its job? And does it have the capacity to address the increasingly complex challenges of today’s world?
This lecture will explore the efficacy of the current international order. Has it effectively adapted to address urgent issues facing today’s world—from the rights of Indigenous Peoples to the responsibilities of businesses to prevent and address human rights impacts, to the challenges of ensuring international peace and security, including, notably, the examples of Russian aggression in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war?
Miami Law’s lecture series on human rights is named in honor of the late Louis Henkin, a prominent law professor at Columbia University who was one of the founders of the academic study of human rights and who helped educate a whole generation of human rights lawyers, scholars, and activists, including some Miami Law professors.
The Thursday, November 2, 2023, event, from 6-8:00 p.m., will be held at the University of Miami School of Law, 1331 Miller Drive, Coral Gables, Florida, 33146.
The event is free and open to the public with registration.
Read about the Human Rights Law Program at Miami Law.
