The politics of international norms: a rhetorical approach

Norm contestation is prevalent in international affairs: Legal ambiguities and tensions generate debate, even when established international norms are applied to concrete situations. This book introduces a rhetorical approach to the politics of international norms to better understand what influences the duration and outcome of norm contestation. In doing so, it shows that actors can agree or disagree on the norm frame (norm-based justification) and/or 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. Norms are collectively held standards of appropriate behavior, and thus other states’ reactions to proposed norm interpretations matter. The book explains how three classical elements of rhetoric—speakers (including delegation to agents), audience reactions, and argumentation—influence the duration and outcome of norm contestation. This rhetorical approach is applied to eight norm disputes, ranging from military interventions to contestation over the human rights of terror suspects.