Us Human Rights Conduct And International Legitimacy

Did the Bush administration fundamentally harm the international human rights system through its rejection of human rights norms? This is the central question explored within US Human Rights Conduct and International Legitimacy, which analyses the practices of legitimacy between the Bush administration, states, and international organizations in cases of torture, habeas corpus, and rendition.

Vincent Keating argues that despite the material power of the United States, there is little evidence that the Bush administration gravely damaged international norms on torture and habeas corpus as few nations have followed in America's footsteps, and that the Bush administration's deviation from international norms has served to reaffirm worldwide commitment to human rights.

Review: An excellent study of the Bush administration's attempts to legitimize changes to human rights norms in the international system after 9/11, and, crucially, the limits of its ability to do so. -Andrew J. Priest, Lecturer, University of Essex, UK