In the twentieth century the international community embraced human rights as a way to promote justice for individuals in communities around the world. As the standards were promulgated, scholars raised questions about the origins of the idea, the conceptual boundaries of such rights, methods of enforcement, and the potential impact of human rights in the future. Although international human rights norms are widely accepted, their interpretation and enforcement remain controversial. Sometimes governmental officials have manipulated the standards to avoid being held accountable, claiming that human rights are incompatible with their own political traditions. The fundamental dilemma for human rights is that states play a dual role: They are expected to uphold human rights standards, but at the same time they are usually the perpetrators of gross violations of human rights.

Although the idea of human rights usually is traced to the European Enlightenment (1600–1790), some analysts contend...