U.S. Department of State

(1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, February 25, 2000)

Today, all the talk is of globalization. But far too often, both its advocates and its critics have portrayed globalization as an exclusively economic and technological phenomenon. In fact, in the new millennium, there are at least three universal "languages:" money, the Internet, and democracy and human rights. An overlooked "third globalization"--the rise of transnational human rights networks of both public and private actors--has helped develop what may over time become an international civil society capable of working with governments, international institutions, and multinational corporations to promote both democracy and the standards embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In Davos recently, President Clinton noted that "Since globalization is about more than economics, our interdependence requires us to find ways to meet the challenges of advancing our values." In 1999 the United States continued to meet that challenge. As a leader in promoting democracy and human rights around the world, the United States played an essential and catalyzing role in the process of creating transnational human rights networks.