Christian Ethics and U.S. Foreign Policy: The Helsinki Accords and Human Rights

Christian Ethics and U.S. Foreign Policy examines the evolution of American foreign policy toward the Soviet Union during the period 1973-1980. In particular, Larry Pullen investigates how and why human rights issues became an increasingly significant part of the U.S.-Soviet relationship, focusing on the development of the Helsinki Accords and the process of monitoring compliance with its human rights provisions. Pullen presents an informed critique of both (realist) Henry Kissinger’s and (idealist) Jimmy Carter’s human right’s policies in the tradition of Christian realism associated with Reinhold Neibuhr. The study is sure to provoke debate among students and scholars of foreign policy and ethics.