RCIR Speakers Series: The Politics of International Norms

The Research Centre in International Relations (RCIR) would like to invite you to the book talk by Dr Anette Stimmer, ‘The Politics of International Norms: A Rhetorical Approach’ (Cambridge University Press, 2025).
What happens to international norms when they are publicly contested?
In The Politics of International Norms: A Rhetorical Approach (2025), Anette Stimmer explores how the contestation of global norms can weaken or reinforce their strength. She introduces a key distinction between the “norm frame” (the broader rule or justification) and the specific “claim” or action that follows from it. Stimmer argues that contestation of the norm frame creates more uncertainty—and greater erosion of its strength—than narrower disagreements about claims or specific actions. Drawing on rhetorical theories, the book shows how speakers, arguments, and audience reactions shape the trajectory and outcomes of norm contestation, illustrated through cases such as the Iraq War, Libya’s no-fly zone, the South China Sea, and debates over the human rights of terror suspects.

Anette Stimmer is a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of St Andrews, and co-director of the Centre for Global Law and Governance. Her research focuses on how international norms shape decision-making, and how decision-makers shape norms and international law, particularly regarding international security and human rights. Her work has been published in the European Journal of International Relations, International Studies Quarterly, and the Journal of Global Security Studies.

The discussion will be moderated by Dr Frank Foley, Senior Lecturer in International Relations in the Department of War Studies and author of Countering Terrorism in Britain and France: Institutions, Norms and the Shadow of the Past.
About the RCIR Speaker Series
The RCIR Speaker Series is an initiative of the Research Centre in International Relations in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. The Research Centre in International "Relations (RCIR), based in the Department of War Studies, is a forum dedicated to discussing and supporting research on key issues in global politics. It is characterised by an interdisciplinary orientation to theorise and analyse the changing nature of international relations, with a particular focus on questions of security, conflict, and their social and political implications.

Please join us for this special edition event, followed by a Q&A and a drink reception.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher School of Security Studies