'Playing Fast and Loose' - A Reflection by Magali Courades

On Tuesday 11th December, 2025, UN House Scotland were delighted to host Ryan Conover's , a former United Nations House Scotland intern, for their seminar titled:

“Playing Fast and Loose: A Critical Assessment of the United States’ Engagement with the International Human Rights Regime.”

How much leeway does the United States have in shaping or bending the norms and principles of the International Human Rights Regime? Has it transgressed the norms, threatening the regime’s stability and resilience?

Ryan explored these questions and discusses why normative coherence and acknowledging transgressions are essential for the long-term survival of the International Human Rights Regime.

Resident Intern, Magali Courades, reflects on Ryan's insight:

On the 11th of November, United Nations House Scotland facilitated the zoom event «Playing Fast and Loose: A Critical Assessment of the United States’ Engagement with the International Human Rights Regime.”, which explored the United States’ leeway in shaping or bending the norms and principles of the International Human Rights Regime and its potential threat to the regime’s stability and resilience. Ryan Conover, former United Nations House Scotland intern, explored how normative coherence and acknowledging transgressions are essential for the long-term survival of the International Human Rights Regime. She described how the United States is paradoxically both an architect of the Human Rights Regime and equally openly working to restrict the regime’s legal authority by resisting any mechanisms that might constrain its sovereignty. Following the presentation, attendees shared opinions, thoughts and suggestions on the root causes of the country’s position, how the United States are seen as an example to follow by other Member States, the increased weaponisation of human rights and the necessity for a renewed call to action. Participants attended from both the academic and civil society sectors, and a strong willingness to continue the conversation was shared by everyone.