Norms In International Relations

The author explores why a large number of international organizations adopted sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa despite strategic and economic interests that had fostered strong ties with it in the past. She argues that the emergence of the norm of racial equality is the reason.

Examines the involvement of local actors in conflicts over global norms at the intersection between international relations and international law.

This volume uses the concept of ‘norms’ to initiate a long overdue conversation between the constructivist and postcolonial scholarships on how to appraise the ordering processes of international politics. Drawing together insights from a broad range of scholars, it evaluates what it means to theorise international politics from a postcolonial perspective, understood not as a unified body of thought or a new ‘-ism’ for IR, but as a ‘situated perspective’ offering ex-centred, post-Eurocentric sites for practices of situated critique. Through in-depth engagements with the norms constructivist scholarship, the contributors expose the theoretical, epistemological and practical erasures that have been implicitly effected by the uncritical adoption of ‘norms’ as the dominant lens for analysing the ideational dynamics of international politics. They show how these are often the very erasures that sustained the workings of colonisation in the first place, whose uneven power relations are thereby further sustained by the study of international politics. The volume makes the case for shifting from a static analysis of ‘norms’ to a dynamic and deeply historical understanding of the drawing of the initial line between the ‘normal’ and the ‘abnormal’ that served to exclude from focus the 'strange' and the unfamiliar that were necessarily brought into play in the encounters between the West and the rest of the world. A timely intervention, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of international relations, international relations theory and postcolonial scholarship.

This book addresses problems and puzzles associated with identifying international norms and the influence of these norms on the behavior of different states in international relations in a regional context. Arie M. Kacowicz's research traces several international norms of peace and security and examines their impact in Latin America between 1881 and 2001. He offers an original synthesis of positivist and constructivist approaches and links international relations, international law, international ethics, and Latin American diplomatic history. Kacowicz's primary argument is that a body of international norms of peace and security can be considered an independent and dynamic factor that affects the quality of international society generally and also plays a significant role in regional contexts. In developing his argument, he analyzes the origin of international norms, the impact of norms on the domestic and foreign behavior of states, and the conditions under which regional norms affect the political behavior of states. The book contains eleven empirical case-studies of the ways that international norms have affected the actions of Latin American states, ranging from the neutralization of the Magellan Straits in 1881, to the recent incorporation of Argentina, Chile, and Brazil into the Tlatelolco regime of a nuclear-weapons-free-zone in 1994, and the nuclear cooperation between Argentina and Brazil beginning in the late 1990s. These case-studies include stories of success through peaceful resolutions of conflict between states, of failure, and mixtures of both. Scholars and students of international relations and Latin America will find this book to be both a valuable analysis of international norms and a compelling diplomatic history

This book assesses the impact of norms on decision-making. It argues that norms influence choices not by being causes for actions, but by providing reasons. Consequently it approaches the problem via an investigation of the reasoning process in which norms play a decisive role. Kratochwil argues that, depending upon the strictness the guidance norms provide in arriving at a decision, different styles of reasoning with norms can be distinguished. While the focus in this book is largely analytical, the argument is developed through the interpretation of the classic thinkers in international law (Grotius, Vattel, Pufendorf, Rousseau, Hume, Habermas).

This Brief uses the theory of norm contestation as a model for understanding variation in norm-related behavior in international relations. While most typical approaches to understanding norms view norms as stable structures and actor responses to them as unquestioned, in a global political climate where departures from expected behavior may occur, a more nuanced model is needed. By using a norm contestation framework that highlights norm fluidity and actor agency, this book expands the discussion, providing insight into divergent interpretations of norm violation and compliance and the dynamic nature of norms. The first two chapters introduce the norm contestation model, explain how it contributes to the literature on norm violations, and discuss the reasons for the cases discussed. Chapters Three and Four provide detailed case studies of the mechanisms of norm contestation as they apply to the civilian immunity and non-intervention norms. Chapter Five concludes by reconnecting the norm contestation model to the case studies and describing how it can be applied to norms other than those regulating armed conflict. It also discusses policy implications and avenues for future research. As such, this book will appeal to students and researchers working broadly on issues related to international relations theory, armed conflict, security studies, humanitarianism, human rights, international law, and global governance. It will also be of interest to policy-makers and practitioners interested in influencing the normative behavior of actors in diverse arenas.

Nishikawa explores how international norms have been adopted in the local context in Myanmar to project a certain international image, while in fact the authorities are exploiting these norms to protect their own interests. In the liberal international world order promoted since the end of the Cold War, democracy, rule of law and human rights have become key components in state and peace-building around the world. Many donor governments and international organisations have promoted them in their aid and assistance. However, the promotion of these international norms is based on a flawed understanding of sovereignty and the world. For this reason, the enforcement of these international norms in Myanmar not only fails to protect vulnerable people but also, in some instances, exacerbates the situation, thereby generating critical insecurity to the most vulnerable people. A vital resource for scholars of Myanmar’s politics, as well as a valuable case study for International Relations scholars more broadly.

This book collects Thomas Risse's most important articles together in a single volume. Covering a wide range of issues – the end of the Cold War, transatlantic relations, the "democratic peace," human rights, governance in areas of limited statehood, Europeanization, European identity and public spheres, most recently comparative regionalism – it is testament to the breadth and excellence of this highly respected International Relations scholar's work. The collection is organized thematically – domestic politics and international relations, international sources of domestic change, and the diffusion of ideas and institutions – and a brand new introductory essay provides additional coherence. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of International Relations, European Politics, and Comparative Politics. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.