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In a pair of speeches that bookended the largely neglected International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, President Barack Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton set forth a sophisticated, nuanced and, most importantly, pragmatic message on democracy and human rights.

In a nutshell, the policy is to “remain true to core American principles of human freedom and dignity, restore U.S. credibility on human rights, demand that rules be followed, but above all, stay flexible in how to apply these values to realities on the ground.”

As a former Clinton administration policy adviser on democracy and human rights, I can certainly appreciate the fine line policymakers need to walk in this domain of foreign policy. As we saw during the years of the last Bush administration, a brash...