| In this dissertation, I trace the development of the anti-terrorism norm over the last eight decades as a window into the under-studied but very consequential process of normal-building in the international sphere. The primary goals of this effort were to generate a set of plausible hypotheses to explain how international norms emerge and develop, and to evaluate these hypotheses in light of the specific case of the anti-terrorism norm. In particular, the project aimed to illuminate the conditions under which international norms are likely to emerge, and the most important factors contributing to their development.; I argue that terrorism itself did not drive the development of the norm. Rather, its development was shaped by two elements of the international environment, which I label society and structure. First, the content and depth of international society, including the existence of other related norms and of a larger international legal regime, had profound effects on the norm's development. In particular, the anti-terrorism norm was profoundly affected by the ascent or deterioration of other norms, especially those that reinforced its purpose, such as the norm against hostage-taking, and those that potentially conflicted with it, such as the of self-determination. Second, a state's "structural identity"---its sense of its own place in the larger international power structure---largely determined its prospective norm, and shaped the politics of norm-building. In this regard, the relatively powerful states, including most of the Western states, saw the creation of a strong anti-terrorism norm as an opportunity to reinforce some level of order in an anarchical society of international politics, by de-legitimizing a certain category of violence that was most often a "weapon of the weak." Meanwhile, many of the weaker states saw norm-building efforts as an opportunity to bring attention to more insidious and pervasive forms of violence and oppression in the international system. |
