Introduction: the paradox of international order: agreements in an age of fracture

Siniša Vuković and P. Terrence Hopmann

A chapter in Handbook on the Politics of International Agreements, 2026, pp 2-8 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The fractured relationships among the states of the world are managed, often imperfectly, by a large web of international agreements, often tenuously maintained by political controversy both within and among the states comprising the global political order. These agreements form the foundation for international law and the practice of international relations in a fractured world order. These agreements, in turn, arise from complex negotiations among the states that make up that global order based on their legality, substance, and structural relationships. Compliance with these agreements depends largely on maintaining their credibility as well as costly sanctions for their violation, which are in turn shaped by the domestic politics within the state parties to these agreements, as well as by the politics of the multilateral global order. This Handbook, authored by specialists from across the globe and across different disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, analyzes the political basis on which these building blocks of the fragile world order are based. It surveys a wide range of issue areas covered by international agreements, involving many different institutional and political relationships both regionally and globally. It thus provides guidance for navigating a world that is simultaneously more integrated through a web of international agreements and, at the same time, more fragmented by political divisions.

Keywords: International Agreements; Negotiations; International Law; International Organizations; Regimes; Compliance; Sanctions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035318582
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