Blair Gibb

In the following viewpoint, Blair Gibb asserts that the rights established by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) may not be relevant for all nations. According to Gibb, several Asian nations have contended that the individual freedoms set forth in the UDHR do not apply to their societies, which emphasize economic development and social cohesion over individualism and freedom of speech. He maintains that this Asian view on human rights stands in
contrast to the U.S. model, which, by its emphasis on individual rights, has led to numerous problems, such as extremes of wealth and poverty. Many Asian nations reject this tradeoff as too costly, Gibb contends. Prior to his death in 1999, Gibb was a planning officer for Amnesty International and the coauthor of When Good Companies Do Bad Things.

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