Political agreements and international legal issues

Catherine Turner

Chapter 8 in Handbook on the Politics of International Agreements, 2026, pp 124-138 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines how international law shapes peace agreements. Once dominated by political science, the study of peace accords now intersects with legal inquiry, reflecting a “legalization” of peacemaking. The chapter outlines three key questions: (1) the legal status of political agreements; (2) their substantive requirements; and (3) mechanisms for enforcement. The chapter highlights the ambiguity surrounding whether agreements between states and non-state actors constitute binding legal instruments, given the uncertain international legal personality of non-state actors. International humanitarian law, UN practice, and customary law offer partial recognition but no settled doctrine. The chapter also explores how international law constrains the content of negotiation through human rights, humanitarian law, and UN normative frameworks such as the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Ultimately, while law increasingly structures peace processes, enforcement remains uneven and significant conceptual and practical gaps persist between legal norms and political realities.

Keywords: Peace Agreements; International Law; Peacemaking; Non-State Actors; Legal Personality; Enforcement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035318582
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035318599.00016 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22652_9

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().