Treaties and International Agreements: Guides to Researching Treaties

The following resources discuss the process of researching treaties; they also identify useful print and Internet resources.

• Treaty Research (University of Colorado)
• Fundamentals of Treaty Research: U.S. and Non-U.S. (University of Chicago)

Basically, you may improve the efficiency & effectiveness of your search if you determine the following information early in your research process:

• Who?
  • Is the U.S. a party?
  • Is the treaty bilateral (two parties) or multilateral (more than two parties)?
  • Who are the parties?
• What?
  • Do you know the title of the treaty or its popular name?
  • What is the subject of the treaty?
  • Do you need the full text of the treaty, or just information about it, such as an official citation or current status?
• When?
  • Is the treaty very recent?
  • Is it currently in effect?
  • Do you know the date it was signed, ratified, amended, etc.?