A Most Uncertain Crusade: The United States, the United Nations, and Human Rights, 1941–1953

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments I am indebted to many people who have helped me academically, personally , and spiritually during the ten years it took to research and write this book. My academic advisors at The Ohio State University, Dr. Michael Hogan and Dr. Peter Hahn, read chapter drafts of my dissertation and offered much constructive criticism. Dr. Carol Anderson helped me to place events within the Civil Rights Movement in broader perspective and sharpened my critique. Itai Sneh, Richard Wiggers, and Diane Hill are examples of why the historical study of American human rights policy has a bright future. Others scholars who have offered criticism and insights include Michael Cren, Ted Mearns, Jr., Cathal Nolan, Richard Falk, Bryan Young, Andrew Moravcsik, Gary Woodard, Joseph Cofield, and William Schabas. I am grateful for the feedback provided by two anonymous manuscript reviewers as well. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to my editors, Mark Heineke, Marlyn Miller, and Susan Bean, who expertly guided me through the publication process and offered insightful suggestions. To Dr. Amy Sayward and Bruce Karhoff, graduate school colleagues at The Ohio State University, I owe a very personal debt: the discovery of how scholars can push each other to excel. Norwich University generously awarded me a Charles A. Dana Fellowship and a semester-long sabbatical to complete this work, and I am most appreciative of the support. I also received a research fellowship over the summer of 2008 to do archival work for part of this book with Michael Self, who graduated from Norwich and who has a bright future ahead of him in the law enforcement field. Over the last twenty-five years, friends and colleagues in Amnesty International have inspired me to fight passionately for those ideals I chose to study here. The tireless advocacy, creative thinking, and passionate commitment of Nancy Bothne, Michael Heflin, Simeon Mawanza, Tiseke Kasambala Dr. Hugo Adam Bedau, Dr. Mike Radelet, Sister Donna Schneweis, Jim Lyle, Dr. Elizabeth Dreyfuss, Ilona Kelly, James Graham, and Sarah Hager x Acknowledgments will all speak through the writings of historians who document the domestic and foreign work of the modern Human Rights Movement. Human rights defenders in Zimbabwe, some of whom I have come to know personally, have witnessed and endured the suffering and persecution that come from governmental oppression and neglect. I want to particularly mention Arnold Tsunga, Magadonga Mahlangu, Jenny Williams, and Teresa Dangwa; their struggle for human dignity must also be our struggle if the promises contained in the documents cited in this book are to have any resonance in the real world. My parents, Robert and Lois Brucken, have guided and supported me in surprising, emerging ways. In addition to their love and prodding to finish this work, my late mother’s lifelong devotion to volunteerism and my father’s skillful dedication to the practice of law have educated me in small and large ways to think about the world outside of my suburban childhood home. And finally, I must recognize the great novelist Alan Paton, whose lyrically profound novel of human suffering, Cry, the Beloved Country, first pointed me toward the study of contemporary human rights. I dedicate this work to Lisa—my wife, best friend, and teacher—and to my inspirational daughters—Katherine, Grace, and Caroline. A M o s t U n c e rta i n C r u s a d e ...