James Ron

At some point during 1991-92, something substantial changed in the way Israel's security agencies interrogated Palestinian detainees. The change was not in the number of detainees interrogated; on any given day in 1993, some four hundred to six hundred Palestinians continued to be interrogated by either the General Security Services (GSS) or the military (Israel Defense Forces; IDF).

Overview
Does the increase in the number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as international relief groups indicate the presence of a robust global civil society? Few would dispute the contribution of these organizations to alleviating world suffering. But according to Alexander Cooley of Barnard College and James Ron of McGill University, the growing number and involvement of these NGOs in international assistance activities also has a down side. Cooley and Ron suggest that "organi...

Local human rights organizations (LHROs) are key domestic and transnational actors, modifying, diffusing, and promoting liberal norms; mobilizing citizens; networking with the media and activists; and pressuring governments to implement international commitments. These groups, however, are reliant on international funds. This makes sense in politically repressive environments, where potential donors fear government retaliation, but is puzzling elsewhere. We interviewed 263 LHRO leaders and ke...

Over the last three decades, local human rights organizations have proliferated across India, focusing their energies on a wide range of issues. These groups have been important counter-weights to many government and private sector policies that perpetuate injustice and inequality. They have also helped combat the negative human and environmental implications that economic liberalization and globalization have had across the nation. Indeed, urban centers such as Mumbai have become hubs of advocacy and rights-related activities and organizations.

Human Rights Quarterly
Who Trusts Local Human Rights Groups? Evidence from Three World Regions
2015 •
James Ron
This article introduces the "human rights perception poll," our investigation of public opinion towards human rights issues and organizations in Mexico, Colombia, India, and Morocco.
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Political Science Quarterly
Do Global Publics View Human Rights Organizations as Handmaidens of the United States?
2020 •
James Ron
DAVID CROW and JAMES RON look at how global publics view the ...

I just returned from an eight-day trip to Israel and Palestine (more specifically, the West Bank) with my 16-year-old son.
We had gone to attend a Tel Aviv funeral of an old friend, who died tragically, at a young age, from a freak brain bleed.
To manage our sadness, we took a few days to travel around. We visited the Bahá'í temple in Haifa; the old port of Akko and its impressive archaeological sites; a Palestinian-Israeli town in the northern Galilee, Mi'ilya,; Ramallah, in the West Bank; t...

This week, a brief clash between rival armed factions in Libya's capital city, Tripoli, again emphasized the country's unresolved civil conflict. This prolonged struggle has led to two competing political authorities, each holding sway over distinct territories within Libya's eastern and western regions.
To the east, authority is consolidated within the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, which governs with the support of the Libyan National Army, led by General Khalifa Haftar.
Political c...

Human rights groups have lost—or never gained—the trust of roughly half their (potentially) strongest supporters.
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Building public support for human rights reform is crucial. Without a broad and deep public constituency, legislators will not pass the necessary laws, supervisors will not enforce new rules, and citizens will not demand real accountability and change.
For a long time now, we have known that non-governmental rights groups play a key role in these reform efforts. They lobby...

Have feminists made traction in campaigning that “women’s rights are human rights?" We interviewed thousands of people to find out.
By: James Ron
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At the 1995 Beijing world conference, feminists worked hard to elevate gender concerns by promoting the slogan, “women’s rights are human rights.”
Over time, they hoped, ordinary people would come to view gender equality, protection from domestic violence, and other critical issues facing women as no less important than the rights of male po...

Marketing research can help Mexican rights groups monetize their “brand” and boost public donations.
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About 54% of Mexican adults—over 44 million people—report having donated to the Teletón and other big Mexican charity fundraisers. In 2012, the Teletón, which helps disabled children, raised some $472.5 million Mexican pesos, roughly $35.5 million USD. Yet, only 4% of Mexican adults report having ever given money to a human rights organization (HRO) of any kind, at any point in their l...

Many Republicans believe that the UN curbs America’s interests, but people in the global South often view the UN as a tool of the United States. Why?

As the annual United Nations General Assembly convened in September in New York, anxiety over relations with the United States under President Trump loomed. The United States is the most powerful member and largest contributor to the UN. UN officials had worried the presid...

Why are some governments cracking down on civil society or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)? By our count, 39 of the world’s 153 low- and middle-income countries enacted restrictive funding laws between 1993 and 2012, targeting NGOs operating in-country with foreign funding.
This trend continues apace today. The Hungarian parliament recently approved a law obligating foreign-supported NGOs to declare their “foreign” status on websites and promotional materials. Egypt, Russia, Israel and o...

Since President Trump entered the White House, U.S. drones and bombers have stepped up strikes on suspected terrorists in Africa and the Middle East, which have also been killing civilians. We looked into Americans’ attitudes toward airstrikes and found that, with the reminder that such strikes kill civilians, a majority of Americans oppose them. Even those who do support such use of force become more likely to oppose the strikes if told that military leaders oppose them.
U.S. airstrikes have...

Religious leaders can help convince the most ethnocentric and authoritarian U.S. voters to oppose Washington’s backing of abusive dictators.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for MoveOn.org
August 21, 2019, 8:48 AM
U.S. President Donald Trump’s comfort with autocratic leaders is well known. He celebrated his “great relationship” with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has designed a deadly anti-crime campaign that has attracted criticism at home and abroad; seeks to designate Egyptian strongman...

Provides a political economy perspective on the work of international non government organizations, using case studies from humanitarian aid, detainee protection, and democracy assistance.