a formal agreement between the governments of different countries on how to behave towards themselves or towards the peoples of their country, a series of international agreements describing how people should be treated when they are prisoners of war, a 1998 agreement between the British and Irish governments which made proposals for peace in Northern Ireland, a country that makes an agreement with another country that they will work together to help each other, especially in a war an official written agreement between two or more countries. When national leaders negotiate a treaty, they discuss it before reaching an agreement; and when they ratify a treaty, they give it their formal consent, usually by signing it or voting in favor of it Under international law, a treaty is any legally binding agreement between states (countries). A treaty can be called a convention, protocol, pact, agreement, etc. it is the content of the agreement, not its name, that makes it a treaty. Thus, both the Geneva Protocol and the Biological Weapons Convention are treaties, although neither has the word “treaty” in its name. Under U.S. law, a treaty is specifically a legally binding agreement between countries that requires ratification and “deliberation and approval” by the Senate. All other agreements (treaties in the international sense) are called executive agreements, but are nevertheless legally binding on the United States under international law. Treaty on European Union: agreement concluded in 1991 in the Dutch city of Maastricht, in which the Member States of the European Union agreed on plans for their future, including economic union and the introduction of the euro. It entered into force in 1993.

In addition to treaties, there are other, less formal international agreements. These include efforts such as the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and the G7 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Mass Destruction. Although PSI has a “Declaration of Prohibition Principles” and the G7 Global Partnership includes several G7 Leaders` Statements, neither has a legally binding document that sets out specific commitments and is signed or ratified by member countries. A treaty is negotiated by a group of countries, either by an organization created for that specific purpose or by an existing body such as the United Nations (UN) Disarmament Council. The negotiation process can take several years depending on the subject of the treaty and the number of participating countries. .