Curated playlist
Treaties of the United Kingdom
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural RightsThe United States signed a human rights treaty in 1979 and never ratified it. It covers work, health and education.
- Anglo-Polish allianceBritain's 1939 promise to defend Poland secretly covered only an attack by Germany.
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeIn June 1992, 154 countries signed a treaty to limit human interference with the climate.
- Montreal ProtocolThe Montreal Protocol is the only UN treaty ratified by all 198 parties. It phased out spray-can chemicals.
- Munich AgreementCzechoslovakia waited in a hotel while four leaders decided its fate at Munich. It learned the outcome afterward.
- Paris AgreementThe Paris Agreement nearly unraveled over the word "shall". The French called it a typo and used "should".
- International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsA UN human rights treaty adopted in 1966 took nearly ten years to take effect.
- Convention on Certain Conventional WeaponsThe 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons has no way to check whether states obey it.
- Outer Space TreatyNo country can claim the Moon, Mars or any asteroid under the Outer Space Treaty. Rivals signed it in 1967.
- Potsdam AgreementThe Potsdam Agreement was a communiqué, not a peace treaty, yet it shaped Germany until 1990.
- Locarno TreatiesIn 1936, German troops entered the Rhineland and no Locarno Treaties signatory moved to stop them.
- Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear WeaponsNorth Korea became the first state ever to leave the Non-Proliferation Treaty, in April 2003. It had joined in 1985.
- Kyoto ProtocolThe Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, yet global emissions still rose 32% from 1990 to 2010.
- North Atlantic TreatyThe North Atlantic Treaty sat unseen in the bottom drawer of a diplomat's safe.
- Antarctic Treaty SystemTwelve rival nations signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, the first arms control deal of the Cold War.
- Partial Nuclear Test Ban TreatyIn 1957, underground nuclear tests could not be told apart from earthquakes. That complicated a full test ban.