In the summer of 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo provoked controversy when he announced the formation of the Commission on Unalienable Rights. The purpose of the independent commission was to provide advice on human rights in American foreign policy in light of America’s founding principles, constitutional traditions, and the obligations the nation took on in 1948 when the United States voted in the UN General Assembly in favor of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Peter Berkowitz, who served as director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff and the commission’s executive secretary, will discuss the controversy over the commission, the report’s principal arguments, and its larger significance.