On Treaties and Taboos: US Responses to the Norms in the NPT and Genocide Convention (1946-1999)
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Tens of millions of people perished during the Second World War. The deaths caused by the Holocaust and the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however, attained a special prominence in the collective memory of humanity. The leader of the post-war international order, the United States, was simultaneously liberator of the Nazi concentration camps and the state that had used atomic weapons against Japanese civilians. Nevertheless, during the remainder of the 20th century, United States responded very differently to the norms that developed around nuclear weapons and genocide—specifically the nuclear nonproliferation norm and the international prohibition against genocide. This thesis investigates the reasons behind the difference in the United States’ responses to the nuclear nonproliferation norm and the international prohibition against genocide during the 20th century. Four case studies are examined: the drafting of the Genocide Convention (1944-1948); the drafting of the NPT (1958-1968); the United States’ response to India's nuclearization (1947 - 1999); US intervention during the Kosovo War (1998-1999). The results of this research find that the norm against nuclear proliferation reinforces the post-war international order—one led by the United States and organized under the United Nations system. In contrast, the international prohibition against genocide highlights contradictions embedded in the UN Charter and threatens to disrupt the foundation of the UN society of states. The implications of these findings suggest that there are limits to the kinds of international norms that can be constructed and endorsed by the United States within the structure of the current UN society of states.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | June 6, 2017 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Pham, Thu-An |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Holloway, David |
Subjects
| Subject | Center for International Security and Cooperation |
|---|---|
| Subject | International Relations Program |
| Subject | genocide |
| Subject | Genocide Convention |
| Subject | nuclear weapons |
| Subject | Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty |
| Subject | norms |
| Subject | international norms |
| Subject | international order |
| Subject | international society |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Pham, Thu-An. (June). On Treaties and Taboos: US Responses to the Norms in the NPT and Genocide Convention (1946-1999). Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/km143bj7014
Collection
Stanford University, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies, Theses
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- Contact
- tpham7@stanford.edu
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