ABSTRACT
THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY First and foremost, a student of international environmental policy should understand that no sovereign state can ever be required to join an international agreement, or to enforce a particular regulation. The international system is thus anarchic in that there is no overarching authority (in this case a world government) that can dictate to the constituent parts what they must do. In national politics, on the other hand, there is generally a legislature which makes laws that bind the actors who might prefer not to be bound, and a judicial system that can hold these actors to account for their actions and sanction (and enforce) punishment on those who do not comply. At the international level, although there are bodies such as the United Nations and international conferences which act like legislatures, they are not empowered to make laws to bind the states which do not wish to be bound. And, although there are international courts and tribunals, no sovereign nation-state can ever be forced to appear before them, or to accept punishment from them.
