The Reluctance of the United States to Ratify Treaties

Abstract

In December 2009 we witnessed the failure of states at the climate conference in Copenhagen to conclude a formal treaty regulating emissions of greenhouse gasses. Instead, a non-binding Copenhagen Accord was concluded. It was a significant disappointment to many Europeans, who had wished for a binding international agreement, and for many international lawyers, who did not see the accord as a real legal instrument. Many factors contributed to the failure of the anticipated formal protocol, but one of them was the unwillingness or inability of the United States to make binding legal commitments in treaty form.