Dysfunctional Diplomacy: The Politics of International Agreements in an Era of Partisan Polarization

Description

US diplomacy is broken. As a result, the United States sits on the sidelines as the remainder of the world writes international law dealing with a host of vexing problems. The source of the dysfunction is domestic politics. Partisan polarization has rendered the domestic treaty process unworkable. Instead, presidents rely entirely on unilateral tools to complete their agreements, making them far weaker and less legitimate. Using a mixed-methods approach, Peake assesses the politics surrounding treaty ratification and the use of unilateral authority since World War Two, with a particular focus on the twenty-first century. He employs original data from 1949 through 2020, including 1,000 treaties and more than 3,000 executive agreements. The analysis provides case studies of the domestic politics of several recent international agreements, including on climate change, Iranian nuclear weapons, security in Iraq and Afghanistan, human rights, and the law of the sea. Cover Endorsement Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments 1 Introduction Recent Trends in the Treaty Process Defining Concepts International Agreements: A Brief Political History International Relations Theory and International Agreements Plan of the Book Notes 2 Recent Trends in Treaty Politics A New START? Partisan Polarization and International Agreements Article II Treaties During the Obama Administration Treaties During the Trump Administration Conclusion Notes 3 The Effects of Partisan Polarization On Treaty Politics Explaining Presidential Treaty Usage Treaty Gridlock Explaining Trends in Treaty Gridlock Treaty Gridlock at the Individual Treaty Level Conclusion Notes 4 The United States On the Outside: Multilateral Conventions The UN Convention On the Law of the Sea Human Rights Treaties Environmental Treaties Arms Control Treaties Conclusion Notes 5 Executive Agreements: Implementing US Diplomacy Executive Agreements Executive Agreements Dataset Agreement Topic Agreement Partners Executive Branch Agencies Discussion The Iraq and Afghanistan Agreements Trade Agreements Conclusion Notes 6 Weak Commitments: The Limits of Presidential Unilateralism Political Commitments The Iran Nuclear Agreement The Paris Agreement On Climate Change Conclusion Notes 7 Conclusions Mea Culpa Prospects for Change Concluding Thoughts Notes References Index