This Chapter outlines the design of a theoretical framework for explaining response to norm conflict. It is comprised of five parts: (1) a theoretical discussion of norms, how they work and the decision-making problem that arises in situations of norm conflict; (2) an analysis of the logic of actions International Relations Theory (IRT) provides and their short-comings in explaining decision-making in situations of norm conflict; (3) the outline of a consequentialist, but socially embedded approach to norm following; (4) an overview of the universe of possible responses to norm conflict on the basis of a consequentialist, but socially embedded approach to norm following; and finally (5) a discussion of the methodology, including case selection and the research methods used for this study.

Chapter Two establishes the normative context in the three case study countries –Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia – which provides the foundation for identifying and studying responses to norm conflict. The chapter analyses the degree of commitment to the two norms in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia by relying on a three-fold measure of norm commitment consisting of (1) formal norm adoption, (2) norm implementation, and (3) norm compliance. It highlights the sources that give rise to expectations for norm compliance at the domestic and international levels. In emphasizing the relevance of the domestic aspects of norm internalization, namely norm implementation and demonstrated commitment to a norm in practice, this study of norm conflict importantly differs from the bulk of norms research, which still mainly focuses on the international level, asking whether and why states formally adopt norms.

This Chapter is the first of three case studies that illustrate response to norm conflict. Chapter Three assesses the Indonesian response to norm conflict in situations of gross human rights violations in Myanmar. It shows that in light of a domestic expectation for norm compliance with human rights protection and an equally strong domestic desire to uphold the non-interference norm in cases of territorial disintegration, the government employed a strategy of norm reconciliation. To reconcile the conflicting norms, the Indonesian government reduced the meaning and application of the non-interference norm to instances involving a secessionist dimension. While generally acting in accordance with the human rights protection norm, it remained silent in cases in which a country’s human rights violations were related to a struggle for secession or involved a risk of territorial disintegration, such as the later stages of the Saffron Revolution and the Rakhine Riots in Myanmar.

This Chapter introduces readers to the puzzle the book is concerned with, namely norm conflict as a decision-making problem. It proceeds with spelling out the research questions – how do states respond to norm conflict and why do they respond the way they do. It then walks the reader through the main literature and spells out the gap in the research. The Chapter summarizes the theoretical framework developed to explain response to norm conflict and introduces the response strategies that are later illustrated in the empirical chapters. It closes in walking the reader through a brief summary of the outline of the book.

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