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Norm contestation is prevalent in international affairs: Legal ambiguities and tensions generate debate, even when well-established international norms are applied to concrete situations. This book discusses a wide range of norm disputes and develops a rhetorical approach to the politics of international norms. Anette Stimmer demonstrates how actors can agree or disagree on the norm frame (norm-based justification) and/or behavioural claim (implementing action) when applying international law. Thus, norm contestation can have four "alternate endings": norm impasse, norm neglect, norm recognition, and norm clarification. These alternate endings affect the clarity and strength of the contested norms, as well as subsequent debate, differently. Furthermore, Stimmer explains how the three elements of rhetoric - speakers (including delegation to agents), argumentation, and audience reactions - influence the duration and outcome of contestation. This rhetorical approach is applied to eight norm disputes, ranging from military interventions to contestation over the human rights of terror suspects.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. Alternate endings of norm contestation; 2. Persistence of alternate endings: argumentation, audience reactions and delegation to agents; 3. Norm impasse: contested statehoods of Kosovo, South Ossetia and Abkhazia (territorial integrity vs. self-determination); 4. Norm neglect: 2011 Libya no-fly zone (R2P, PoC vs. sovereignty) and South China Sea dispute (UNCLOS, 2016 arbitral award vs. nine-dash line, four sha); 5. Norm recognition: 2003 Iraq war (chapter VII norms) and targeted sanctions (due process rights); 6. Norm Clarification: international terrorism (right to self-defense and torture prohibition); Conclusion; Bibliography.
About the author
Anette Stimmer is a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of St Andrews. Her research focuses on norm contestation and change, reasons for action, international security, and human rights. Her work has been published in the European Journal of International Relations, International Studies Quarterly, and the Journal of Global Security Studies. She has received awards from the International Studies Association and the Political Studies Association.
