The United States' use of torture and harsh interrogation techniques during the "War on Terror" has sparked fervent debate among citizens and scholars surrounding the human rights of war criminals. Does all force qualify as "necessary and appropriate" in this period of political unrest? Examining Torture brings together some of the best recent scholarship on the incidence of torture in a comparative and international context. The contributors to this volume use both quantitative and qualitative studies to examine the causes and consequences of torture policies and the resulting public opinion. Policy makers as well as scholars and those concerned with human rights will find this collection invaluable.

Autorentext
Henry Carey, Georgia State University, USA Courtenay R. Conrad, University of North Carolina - Charlotte, USA Jacqueline H.R. DeMeritt, University of North Texas, USA Paul Gronke, Reed College, USA Tracy Lightcap, LaGrange University, USA Naoru Koizumi, George Mason University, USA Ammar A. Malik, George Mason University, USA Jeremy D. Mayer, George Mason University, USA Peter Miller, University of Pennsylvania, USA James P. Pfiffner, George Mason University, USA Darius Rejali, Reed College, USA

Inhalt

1. Introduction; Tracy Lightcap and James P. Pfiffner 2. Torture and Public Opinion: The Partisan Dimension; Peter Miller, Paul Gronke, and Darius Rejali 3. Does Terror Cause Torture? A Comparative Study of International Public Opinion About Governmental Use of Coercion; Jeremy D. Mayer, Naoru Koizumi, and Ammar Anees Malik 4. Strange, Savage Blood: Defeat and Torture in the War on Terror; Tracy Lightcap 5. U.S. Torture Policy and Command Responsibility; James P. Pfiffner 6. The Efficacy of Coercive Interrogation; James P. Pfiffner 7. Unintended Consequences: The Effect of Advocacy to End Torture on Empowerment Rights Violations; Courtenay R. Conrad and Jacqueline H. R. DeMeritt 8. Torture Reform in Democracies: A Causal Interpretation; Henry F. Carey