Violence and instability, punctuated by terrorism and subversion, characterize political life in many nations today. Throughout most of the postwar period few countries, and this includes the liberal democracies, have been spared the many faces of violence and terrorism, whether from the Left, the Right, or both.

With the continuing spread of terror and counterterror, with increasing violence and instability, personal insecurity and fear become widespread. Then hard-won gains in human rights come under heavy attack. In this situation violence and terror become self-justifying because through them society will be purged of its alleged evils. Or so it is argued.

Yet the moral conscience of the Americas originates in, and is built upon, respect for human rights. Our Hemisphere differs in a privileged way from other regions of the globe in that this is the guiding principle under which our nations came into being.