Evolving Human Rights Methodology: Have Incursions into State Sovereignty Gone Too Far?

Abstract

This Article will explore the evolving methodology of human rights and its impact on state
sovereignty in the twenty-first century and review the trends driving that evolution. It will first
identify the historical underpinnings for the classical methodology from as early as the eighteenth
century and discuss its measured success, apparent failures, and contemporary application. It will
then analyze developing methodology and events, including the Global War on Terrorism, that have
fueled more pragmatic and interventionist initiatives. Above all, this Article is a cautionary tale in
light of the heady successes of human rights, which calls for reining in an interventionist approach.