An Afternoon with Human Rights Watch's Kenneth Roth and Aaron Rosen

Don’t miss this extraordinary conversation with Kenneth Roth, former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch and one of the most influential voices in the global fight for human rights.

Roth’s new memoir, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments, is not just a personal account - it's a call to action. Drawing from investigations in over 100 countries, Roth reveals what it takes to confront tyranny, defend democracy, and protect human dignity in an increasingly fragile world.

Joined by Aaron Rosen, an international affairs specialist and President & Founder of the World Affairs Council of Miami, Roth will share personal stories from the front lines and explore the urgent challenges that define our time.

Seating is limited. Come ready to engage in the conversation, ask questions, and be part of a timely dialogue that matters now more than ever.

This event is FREE and open to the public and books will be available for purchase.

***Please note: This event will take place at the Books & Books in Coral Gables at 265 Aragon Ave. Tickets are FREE and books will be available for purchase at the event. Can't make the event or want your copy early?

From the long-time head of Human Rights Watch, the fascinating and inspiring story of taking on the biggest villains and toughest autocrats around the world

ONE OF THE ECONOMIST'S BEST BOOKS OF 2025

In three decades under the leadership of Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch grew to a staff of more than 500, conducting investigations in 100 countries to uncover abuses—and pressuring offending governments to stop them. Roth has grappled with the worst of humanity, taken on the biggest villains of our time, and persuaded leaders from around the globe to stand up to their repressive counterparts.

The son of a Jew who fled Nazi Germany just before the war began, Roth grew up knowing full well how inhumane governments could be. He has traveled the world to meet cruelty and injustice on its home turf: he arrived in Rwanda shortly after the Genocide; scrutinized the impact of Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait; investigated and condemned Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians. He directed efforts to curtail the Chinese government’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims, to bring Myanmar’s officials to justice after the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, to halt Russian war crimes in Ukraine, even to reign in the U.S. government. Roth’s many innovations and strategies included the deployment of a concept as old as mankind—the powerful tool of “shaming”—and here he illustrates its surprising effectiveness against evildoers.

This is a story of wins, losses, and ongoing battles in the ceaseless fight to uphold our most basic values.

Kenneth Roth is the Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor at the Princeton School for Public and International Affairs. Until August 2022, he served for nearly three decades as the executive director of Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s leading international human rights organizations, which operates in some 100 countries. Before that, Roth was a federal prosecutor in New York and for the Iran-Contra investigation in Washington. A graduate of Yale Law School and Brown University, Roth has conducted numerous human rights investigative and advocacy missions around the world, meeting with dozens of heads of state and countless ministers. He is quoted widely in the media and has written hundreds of articles on a wide range of human rights issues, devoting special attention to the world’s most dire situations, the conduct of war, the foreign policies of the major powers, the work of the United Nations, and the global contest between autocracy and democracy.

Aaron Rosen is the President and Founder of the World Affairs Council of Miami. He is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a 2024 Eisenhower Fellow, during which he researched disinformation, media literacy, and democratic resilience in Eastern and Northern Europe. Previously, he worked on international technology policy and Russian affairs as an Alfa Fellow in Moscow; served as a specialist in U.S. foreign policy at Japan's MUFG Bank in Washington, D.C.; and completed a graduate fellowship at the European Parliament in Brussels. He has experience spanning the U.S. Congress and its legislative counterparts in Germany, Australia, Canada, Luxembourg, and the EU, as well as with the Embassy of Mexico to the United States. Aaron earned a dual masters concentrated on U.S. foreign policy and international history from the George Washington University and the London School of Economics, and holds a bachelors in international relations and comparative politics from the University of Central Florida

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