The International Human Rights Regime Since 9/11: Transatlantic Perspectives

April 17-19, 2008
University of Pittsburgh

The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States and subsequent attacks in Madrid and London have made combating terrorism a chief priority of U.S. and European governments.  Some of the policies those governments have adopted raise serious human rights concerns – including detention and interrogation practices and “pre-emptive” military action. It is easy to conclude from such practices that the events and aftermath of 9/11 have created a severe shock to the international human rights regime.

Despite the obvious and important concerns these new policies raise, this conclusion is too quick, raising more questions than it answers.

What exactly is the international human rights regime?

What changes has it undergone since 9/11, and (how) can those changes be attributed to events related to 9/11?

How do obvious changes in national policy (foreign and domestic) impact the regime?

How do these changes differ in Europe and the United States, and how do the differences play out internationally?

Was 9/11 a significant turning point for human rights? In what ways?

Does 9/11 provide a useful analytic frame for thinking about human rights and about changes in the human rights regime?

This conference, being held in cooperation with the Deutsche Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft (DVPW – German Political Science Association) ad hoc group on Human Rights, will convene scholars from Europe and the U.S. to debate these and related questions. We want to take seriously the important events of 9/11 and assess their impact on the international human rights regime without taking the nature or extent of that impact for granted.

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Dr. Michael Goodhart
Department of Political Science
E-mail: goodhart@pitt.edu
Telephone: (412) 624-4478
4815 Wesley W. Posvar Hall
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260