by Nomad
In the midst of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt famously told the nation that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. Though the sources of fear may be different today, the effect is the same.
The Many Facets of Fear
An essay by Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, explores what he sees as the root cause of many of the world's problems today: Fear.Fear stood behind many of the big human rights developments of the past year. Fear of being killed or tortured in Syria and other zones of conflict and repression drove millions from their homes. Fear of what an influx of asylum seekers could mean for their societies led many governments in Europe and elsewhere to close the gates. Fear of mounting terrorist attacks moved some political leaders to curtail rights and scapegoat refugees or Muslims.And fear of their people holding them to account led various autocrats to pursue an unprecedented global crackdown on the ability of those people to band together and make their voices heard.
The 2016 Human Rights Watch World report summarizes key human rights issues in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. Globally, Roth explained in his keynote essay , the politics of fears impacts human rights policy in two different ways.
