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Was International Covenant on Economic, Social and Culture Rights (ICESCR) a politically motivated response to the realities of the Cold War? Were...

The original concept of ICESCR itself may not necessarily have been a byproduct of the Cold War, but its subsequent drafting and ratification definitely were.


ICESCR has its origins in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948 as a reaction to the atrocities of World War II. After adoption of the UDHR, work began on drafting formal covenants to enforce its underlying principles and the overall framework became known as the International Bill of Human Rights). The drafting, adoption and ratification took decades, during which the Cold War became the overwhelmingly dominant force in geopolitics. In that atmosphere, the ICESCR could not help but become a sort of Cold War political football in nature, with arguments over its provisions stemming from various nations’ competing and sometimes contradictory perspectives.


Nations signed on with a variety of motivations. Some were sincere, while others ratified it as a sort of moral cover, not having any intention of abiding by its provisions but wanting to give their regimes the appearance of moral legitimacy. Still others, most notably the USA, saw ratification of the treaty fall victim to internal politics that had little to do with international geopolitical realities.

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