Watching the vast demonstrations that American cities have experienced in recent days after the murder of George Floyd, some opinion and commentary authors have treated things with more of a spirit of wishful thinking or ideological bias than objectivity. Terms such as “revolution,” “uprising,” and other qualifiers were at the forefront of how they interpreted events.
Could it really be a revolution against the American political system? Or just a fleeting burst of rage? Will these protests lead to a social change in the structure of the American system or will they go down the drain?
The crisis sparked so many questions. Most of these will be answered in the next phase. In any event, the huge demonstrations in the US have meant significant losses. Indeed, it is not a stretch to say that they have profoundly warped the American model.
The American model has become a laughing stock. Millions of people all over the world are criticizing it now that the murder of George Floyd has exposed unspoken aspects of the American system.
For the record, recently, in response to the US State Department’s criticism of China’s human rights record in Hong Kong and the crackdown on protesters, the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded in three words: “I can’t breathe.” These words were the last words of US Citizen George Floyd, whose death triggered widespread protests coast to coast after he appeared in a video struggling to catch his breath as a white officer pinned him down, knee to neck.
The US State Department had recently launched a strong campaign of criticism against China over recent policies in Hong Kong. “This is a pivotal moment for the world,” tweeted State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus. “Freedom loving people around the world must stand with the rule of law and hold to account the Chinese Communist Party, which has flagrantly broken its promises to the people of Hong Kong.”
As a matter of fact, mobilizations in the US against racist policies strongly challenge Washington’s rationale for calling for human rights protection elsewhere.
The US has always played this card on the international stage, whether through the US State Department’s annual human rights report, or by putting the protection of human rights high on the agenda in Washington’s relations with the world, especially with developing countries and strategic US adversaries such as China.
The report focuses on criticizing countries identified by the US as strategic adversaries or competitors such as Iran, Venezuela, China, Cuba and some of the criticisms sought by other countries, such as Arab countries. This annual report brings together multiple accusations of human rights violations in several Asian and African countries. It provides an annual review, from an American vantage point, of what Washington considers to be a violation of human rights principles in these countries.
A powerful tool for putting pressure on states, the document can be used to push them to change their policies in other areas in accordance with US Interests or to accept US Narrative on certain issues or events.
Moreover, there is often a link between the findings of the report and the US Aid some countries receive. It is already known that the findings of the report are used politically in accordance with the US strategic interests or those of a close ally, such as Israel. For experts and political scientists, the human rights report is a trump card by which the US can assert itself as the sole global pole.
Although the State Department’s human rights report holds a variety of criticisms on a wide range of countries, it only negatively affects its relations with some countries, while others are used to the report’s content as a cliché of their relationship with Washington. The report does not indicate a specific US approach to these countries, except in some cases where White House policies are in line with the State Department and the Pentagon’s.
It is true that the popular demonstrations and riots that took place for several days in many American cities have hurt the economy, security and even public health through increasing the risk of a coronavirus epidemic. But the reputation of the US as a global champion of human rights and freedoms has been severely tarnished.
Although the damage wrought by George Floyd’s murder is not the first of its kind, events and scandals such as the 2004 Abu Ghraib prison affair in Iraq have done as much, the reputation of the US as a global role model for values, freedoms and human rights has been the big loser.
