How US 'Primacy' & Arms Sales Trample Human Rights

An interview with Annelle Sheline of the Quincy Institute.

Annelle Sheline, research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, joined me on The Zero Hour to discuss her research brief "Under Primacy, Weapons Sales Will Always Supersede Human Rights."

Annelle was a Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor’s Office of Near Eastern Affairs (DRL/NEA), before resigning in March 2024 in protest over the Biden administration’s unconditional support for Israeli military operations in Gaza.

From the interview:

On human rights policy: "As long as our policy is driven by military primacy, weapons sales will always come first."

On Congress: "They’ve never blocked a weapons sale—even for Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi’s murder."

On Biden: "The hypocrisy was breathtaking… we became a laughingstock trying to advocate for human rights elsewhere."

Please give it a listen.