In the beginning, the idea of human rights was limited to domestic politics. In international relations, power, not right, continued to be the only thing that mattered: the traditional concept of state sovereignty focused exclusively on power, i.e., on control over people and territory, and protected the state’s authority, regardless of whether its enforcement was civilized or brutal, democratic or authoritarian.
一开始，人权的概念仅仅局限于国内政治。在国际关系方面，强权而不是权利依然是发挥作用的唯一因素。国家主权的传统观念只集中在权力上，即对人民和领土的控制以及保护国家权威，不管这种权威权是以文明还是残暴、民主还是专制的方式来行使的。