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Human Rights & the US State Department

John Shattuck SM ‘77, PhD ‘78: May 7, 2003; Running Time: 1:44:59

About the Lecture

About the Lecture

Ambassador Shattuck provides insights from his experiences as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights in the Clinton Administration. Highlights include his analysis of the global events in the post-Cold War period which he states foreshadowed the attacks of September 11th . He defines two competing forces, the forces of integration, (centered mostly in Eastern Europe with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union, and the end of apartheid in South Africa) and the forces of disintegration, (fueled by those left behind in failed states living under severe repression) as the formula for the rise in global terror. He calls the Bush administration’s reaction to September 11th a “security response” and criticizes the Bush administration for not addressing the human rights concerns that are in need of attention.

Lecture Details

Location: 10-250

About the Speaker

John Shattuck SM ‘77, PhD ‘78

Former US Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights the Chief Executive Officer of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

As US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Clinton Administration John Shattuck was the US Government's chief human-rights official from 1993 to 1998. He also served as the US Ambassador in Prague from 1999 to 2000. Before entering government, Ambassador Shattuck was Vice President for Government, Community, & Public Affairs at Harvard University. Prior to that, he worked for the American Civil Liberties Union as Executive Director of the Washington office and national staff counsel from 1971 to 1984.

Ambassador Shattuck is now the Chief Executive Officer of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston. Among the numerous honors he has received for his work is the International Human Rights Award from the United Nations Association. His book, Freedom on Fire: Human Rights Wars and the Roots of Terrorism, will be published in Fall 2003 by Harvard University Press.