Dr Karolina Milewicz awarded OUP John Fell fund grant

Congratulations to Karolina Milewicz, who has been awarded a grant from Oxford Universitys John Fell OUP Research Fund.

The funding will support a project entitled:Designing Multilateral Treaties: The power of negotiation and pathways to international cooperation.

Multilateral treaties have been the primary vehicle of international cooperation for the past sixty years and address a wide range of global concerns such as international crime, global warming and human rights. But doubts remain regarding their effectiveness for addressing international problems since states willingness and ability to ratify and comply with international treaties diverge widely. New research at the interface of international relations and international law has addressed these issues and significantly expanded our theoretical understanding of how law and politics work together. However, little attention has been paid to the fact that a states decision to commit to treaties is preceded by the long multilateral process of negotiation among states. This project enhances our understanding of how the politics of multilateral treaty-making and a states position in negotiations influence its subsequent decisions to cooperate. Through this, I develop an innovative explanation of state behaviour in international politics in terms of the special role of states that are both powerful and democratic.

The project will run from 1 August 2013 until 31 December 2014.