FROM SELMA TO MOSCOW:

How Human Rights Activists Transformed U.S. Foreign Policy

The 1960s marked a transformation of human rights activism in the United States. At a time of increased concern for the rights of their fellow citizens–civil and political rights, as well as the social and economic rights that Great Society programs sought to secure–many Americans saw inconsistencies between domestic and foreign policy and advocated for a new approach. The activism that arose from the upheavals of the 1960s fundamentally altered U.S. foreign policy–yet previous accounts have often overlooked its crucial role.

In From Selma to Moscow, Sarah B. Snyder traces the influence of human rights activists and advances a new interpretation of U.S. foreign policy in the “long 1960s.” She shows how transnational connections and social movements spurred American activism that achieved legislation that curbed military and economic assistance to repressive governments, created institutions to monitor human rights around the world, and enshrined human rights in U.S. foreign policy making for years to come. Snyder analyzes how Americans responded to repression in the Soviet Union, racial discrimination in Southern Rhodesia, authoritarianism in South Korea, and coups in Greece and Chile. By highlighting the importance of nonstate and lower-level actors, Snyder shows how this activism established the networks and tactics critical to the institutionalization of human rights. A major work of international and transnational history, From Selma to Moscow reshapes our understanding of the role of human rights activism in transforming U.S. foreign policy in the 1960s and 1970s and highlights timely lessons for those seeking to promote a policy agenda resisted by the White House.

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Praise for From Selma to Moscow

“Based on deep and thorough archival research, as well as an innovative and creative use of quantitative measures, Snyder’s book demonstrates that issues of human rights emerged as a significant priority for many Americans, both political leaders and activists, well before the Carter Administration. From Selma to Moscow is an extremely important contribution to what remains one of the most important challenges in American foreign policy.”

–Thomas Schwartz, Vanderbilt University

“In this illuminating book Sarah Snyder explains the origins of the human rights movement in the 1960s and chronicles its evolution until the inauguration of Jimmy Carter. Linking the evolution of human rights to other social movements, she probes the motives, highlights the transnational connections, and analyzes the successes and failures of activists regarding human rights violations inside the Soviet Union, Southern Rhodesia, Greece, South Korea, and Chile. This book is an important contribution to the literature on human rights.”

–Melvyn Leffler, Edward Stettinius Professor of American History, University of Virginia

“Human rights is emerging as one of the central concerns of modern humanities and social science scholarship. From Selma to Moscow illuminates the missing links between histories of the 1940s and the 1970s, the focus of previous studies. Sarah Snyder’s globe-spanning tale of activists and policy makers reveals the significance of the 1960s for bringing human rights to the forefront of U.S. foreign relations. An important book from an excellent historian.”

–Tim Borstelmann, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

“In this impressive and deeply researched work, Sarah Snyder reveals the way global struggles over human rights became a feature of American politics and foreign policy in the 1960s and 70s as activists, journalists, and Congress members made the case that the United States was complicit if the country ignored brutal repression. An important contribution.”

–Mary L. Dudziak, Emory University School of Law

Reviews

of From Selma to Moscow

Click on the journal title to read the full review.

American Historical Review

Reviewed by Kelly J. Shannon

Diplomatic History

Reviewed by Michael Cotey Morgan

Journal of American History

Reviewed by Jennifer Delton

Cold War History

Reviewed by Joe Renouard

New Books Network

Reviewed by Zeb Larson

H-Diplo

Reviewed by several, with response

Journal of Cold War Studies

Reviewed by William Michael Schmidli

Human Rights Quarterly

Reviewed by Debbie Sharnak

Image credits
Background: Henry Kissinger in his White House office. Courtesy: The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum (National Archives and Records Administration).