David Forsythe studies international human rights and American foreign policy. The University of Nebraska Professor Emeritus of Political Science spoke this week at Kalamazoo College.
While in town, he also spoke with WMUK's Gordon Evans. Forsythe says United States history is filled with tension over the balance between security and liberty. He says the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 shifted the debate in the U.S. Forsythe says at that point the Bush administration decided it had to "go to the dark side," a quote attributed to former Vice President Dick Cheney.
In his book, The Politics of Prisoner Abuse Forsythe says most nations don't live up to their stated ideals in the area of human rights. But he says the United States sets a standard for the rest of the world.
Forsythe was in Kalamazoo on Tuesday to deliver the annual Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Lecture at Kalamazoo College.
