Human Rights at a Critical Crossroads

With the United Nations paralyzed by vetoes and toxic indecision, the European Union rent by conflicting goals and an unattainable rule of unanimity, where can the world's most oppressed turn?

More than a decade ago, a young Norwegian visionary, Thor Halvorssen invited me to Oslo for the debut of the Oslo Freedom Forum. As it grew and flourished through the years, it morphed eventually into what The Economist observed was "on its way to becoming a human-rights equivalent of the Davos economic forum.”

What The Economist also observed, however, …