Welcome to the Unexemptional
This newsletter is devoted to the concept of Anti-Exemptionalism in United States foreign policy. America can and should be an exceptional nation. But it can only be exceptional if it is not exemptional.
This concept is grounded in the belief that U.S. foreign policy should prioritize the promotion of universally-recognized human rights, both for our national interest and as an expression of American ideals. We often hear politicians and policymakers call for a foreign policy based on such principles. But in practice, they fall far short.
Double standards are more the rule than the exception. That’s not right. All too often, the United States engages in behavior that we criticize other countries for doing. We give “allies” a pass for things we penalize a competitor for doing. Worst of all, domestic governments (federal, state, local) routinely violate human rights standards, putting the United States out of our international obligations and making it harder for us to advocate for human rights improvements around the world.
When the U.S. exempts itself from the rules it demands others abide by, we lose our moral authority. That’s self-defeating. The alternative is Anti-Exemptionalism and why this site is called Unexemptional.
Of course, the United States will always face competing interests in this violent and overheating world. Moral considerations will lose out when trade-offs are made. But I believe we must strive for the higher ground. As Eleanor Roosevelt, drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, said, “It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.”
Who Am I?
I am a proud card-carrying member of the Human Rights Industrial Complex™, having worked in human rights policymaking in Congress, the State Department and the NGO sector. I don’t pretend to be a theorist or a practitioner, but my experience (and frustration!) in policy has led me to these ideas.
I got my start investigating human rights cases under Salvadoran military officers, but much of the past decade and a half have been on human rights in China and Tibet, which earned me the distinction of being personally sanctioned by the Chinese government. Among other things, I conceived and drafted three Tibet bills that later became laws (this and this and this) and negotiated the enacted version of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Where else do I make words?
I’m still on the site formerly known as Twitter, where I often comment on double standards in American foreign and domestic policy, and now am also on Bluesky (@toddstein.bsky.social) and Threads (@ernopepper). I also run a music blog.
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