Norm Decay: The War On Terror

After the devastating terrorist attack on September 11th 2001, the United States changed the types of counter-terrorism polices used against the threat of international terrorism. While the George W. Bush administration has been greatly studied by various scholars and journalists there is little research that combines the ideology of norm decay to President George W. Bush and human rights. Specifically, in regards to the physical and mental human rights violations that occurred during the War on Terror. An in-depth analysis through the use of a theoretical framework that consist of three benchmarks will be applied to two sperate case studies; focusing on the policy tool of extraordinary rendition and the prisoner abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. By analyzing the potential pattern that emerges from the case study analysis it will allow us to determine whether there is a decay in human rights norms. The two aforementioned case studies will be evaluated against three criteria...Show moreAfter the devastating terrorist attack on September 11th 2001, the United States changed the types of counter-terrorism polices used against the threat of international terrorism. While the George W. Bush administration has been greatly studied by various scholars and journalists there is little research that combines the ideology of norm decay to President George W. Bush and human rights. Specifically, in regards to the physical and mental human rights violations that occurred during the War on Terror. An in-depth analysis through the use of a theoretical framework that consist of three benchmarks will be applied to two sperate case studies; focusing on the policy tool of extraordinary rendition and the prisoner abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. By analyzing the potential pattern that emerges from the case study analysis it will allow us to determine whether there is a decay in human rights norms. The two aforementioned case studies will be evaluated against three criteria and the outcome of this will determine if there is a consistent pattern of decay. The first criteria, analyzes the number of cases of human rights violations and how these have changed during the George W. Bush administration. The second, analyzes the changes in procedures and polices enabling prisoner abuse and human rights decay. The third, analyzes accountability focusing on how the George W. Bush administration interfered in legal proceedings enabling more abuse. Conceptualizing how a norm, regarding physical and mental human rights could decay. In this context, this thesis examines how the terrorist attacks on the domestic United States resulted in a change in counter-terrorism policies, and how those changes influenced human rights as a social norm leading to a decay.Show less

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Norm Decay: The War On Terror