Book review: Barbara Koremenos, The Continent of international law: explaining agreement design

Abstract

The discipline of public international law has been, for some time, described by both its critics (mainly international relations scholars) and some of its adherents as a rather hermetic one, often unconcerned by actual state practices. Barbara Koremenos’ new book, meanwhile, points in a completely opposite direction: it takes at least one aspect of international law – treaty design – and, by applying a rational choice framework, emphasises a direct practice-oriented approach, whereby the contextual conditions of the treaty-making process are taken to determine the shape and form the treaties will take. Instead of haphazardly coming up with particular rules and conditions, states are seen as strategic rational actors that try to choose, inasmuch as they can, from among different design options, so as to construct an agreement that offers lasting fulfilment of their needs. Hence, public international law is not only released from its ivory tower but also becomes an immediately practical domain that takes into account a broad range of factors, such as the nature of the contracting parties, the number of parties, prevalent expectations for the future and so on.