Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Four Freedoms: Good Neighbors Make Good Law And Good Policy In A Time Of Insecurity, Mark R. Shulman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This essay explores the ways that the Four Freedoms were intended to address the dire circumstances of the Second World War. It analyzes the historical context of the 1940s in which the Four Freedoms first emerged, how they formed the basis of the International Bill of Human Rights, and how they evolved over the decades that followed. This essay argues that, restored to their proper place at the center of U.S. policy, the Four Freedoms promise a more principled and more effective grand strategy than the “Global War on Terrorism.” Part I introduces the argument that the Four Freedoms remain …