165. Broken treaties

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This week we have greeted with dismay, at least in my case, UK government indications that they plan to break the EU Withdrawal Agreement. The trouble with international agreements between nations is that they can’t be enforced. Offenders can be challenged at international tribunals, but the tribunal’s authority depends on the offending country recognising its jurisdiction. Thus, international politics are an international treaty scrapyard. However, countries such as UK and US were the ones, to this point, instrumental in the creation of the current international order by upholding its institutions and honouring their agreements. This seems to be changing, and they appear as rogue players that can no longer be trusted, joining Russia and a number of others. If this is the case, the troubling question is whether what is left is sufficient to uphold an international order. If not, it will be back to the law of the strongest, and we would have lost the progress we made in the XX century 

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Location: 07026 Cugnana SS, Italy

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