Arms Exports and Human Rights
Blind Spots of a Debate
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In Czech foreign policy debates, the topic of human rights plays a central role. However, the issue of the connection between arms exports and human rights violations goes unmentioned. The Czech Republic can achieve much more in this area than heap criticism – rightly deserved – on Russia or China. Arms exports are a blind spot in the human rights debate. This undermines the credibility of those who declare they have made human rights a guiding principle of their political actions and hinders those who are seeking to provide a clear definition of the public’s interest in export controls.
(Osteuropa 4-6/2021, pp. 273–278)