The MTOPS Data Set
The ICOW multilateral treaties of pacific settlement (MTOPS) data set includes signature and ratification status for all regional and global treaties that explicitly call for the pacific settlement of (political) disputes among their members. This data set is expected to be used primarily to test the proposition that the regional or global institutional context -- as indicated by joint membership in such an organization -- should affect states' choices of actions in attempting to settle their territorial, river, maritime, or other issues. Over thirty regional and global treaties and organizations are included in the current version of this data set; more details on each organization's charter are provided in the codebook and documentation. Paul Hensel's International Organizations web page offers more information and links to online resources related to international organizations, including many of the cases in the MTOPS data.
Project Participants
- Principal Investigator: Paul Hensel
- Research Assistants: (none)
Current Status
The MTOPS data set currently covers all known institutions, organizations, and treaties between 1816-2014. This will be updated regularly in the future to add any new cases that qualify, and to update the membership and status of any of these current cases as countries join or leave or as the status of the entire treaty/institution changes.
Data Set References
The first published article to use the MTOPS data set was Paul Hensel's 2001 ISQ article, which used the data to help study the management of territorial claims in the Western Hemisphere:
- Paul R. Hensel (2001), "Contentious Issues and World Politics: The Management of Territorial Claims in the Americas, 1816-1992." International Studies Quarterly 45, 1 (March): 81-109.
A later article extended the data set to add coding for territorial integrity provisions:
- Paul R. Hensel, Michael Allison, and Ahmed Khanani (2009). "Territorial Integrity Treaties and Armed Conflict over Territory." Conflict Management and Peace Science 26, 2 (April): 120-143
Download the Data and Documentation
All ICOW data sets may be downloaded freely, but we request several professional courtesies from users:
- (1) Please do not redistribute ICOW data to other scholars. Instead, every user should be directed to this web site to download the latest officially released version of the data, which may be more up-to-date. (It would also be desirable for current users of ICOW data to check this web site occasionally to see if newer versions of the data have been released.)
- (2) As you are using the data, if you notice any potential errors or missing cases, please report them to the ICOW project, so that we can investigate and correct the error if appropriate.
- (3) Please email us a copy of any of your research that uses ICOW data as a professional courtesy.
Documentation
The following links provide access to the coding manual and other useful information:
- MTOPS codebook (in PDF format):
- A list and explanation of each variable in the data set.
- MTOPS documentation (in PDF format):
- Relevant excerpts from each included treaty, showing the wording of its pacific settlement obligations and/or territorial integrity obligations.
- Excluded cases (in PDF format):
- Notes about cases that were considered but were ultimately excluded from the data set, with a brief explanation of why the treaty or institution did not qualify for inclusion.
Data
The codebook and documentation listed above are also included in the data download:
- Download MTOPS Data version 1.5 (a .zip archive containing the data in STATA and .CSV format as well as the codebook in PDF format):
- Includes treaty-level, state-year-level, dyad-year-level, and global data files. Version 1.5 currently covers 1816-2014 and includes treaties or institutions with either pacific settlement obligations or territorial integrity obligations.
Please note that this, like all ICOW data sets, uses the list of country codes in the COW interstate system. Please see that list for help in identifying which countries were involved in the events included in this data set, or for any questions about when each country was considered a sovereign, recognized state.
Contact Information
The Multilateral Treaties of Pacific Settlement (MTOPS) data set is collected and maintained by Paul Hensel at the University of North Texas. Please contact him with any questions about the data set:
List of Qualifying Treaties and Institutions
Note that much more detail is available in the documentation files that are listed above; this list is meant to facilitate quick research on each treaty/institution beyond that information, e.g. for scholars wanting to view other provisions of these treaties or for ICOW researchers wanting to see if the membership of an institution has changed since the last data release.
Global and Cross-Regional
- Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)
- League of Nations
- Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ)
- Kellogg-Briand Pact (Pact of Paris)
- United Nations (UN)
- International Court of Justice (ICJ)
- Commonwealth of Nations
- Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
- Organization of the Islamic Conference/Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
Western Hemisphere Treaties and Institutions
- 1902 Treaty on Compulsory Arbitration
- 1907 General Treaty of Peace and Amity (associated with the Central American Court of Justice)
- 1923 General Treaty of Peace and Amity (associated with the International Central American Tribunal)
- 1923 Treaty to Avoid or Prevent Conflicts between the American States (Gondra Treaty)
- 1929 General Treaty of Inter-American Arbitration
- 1929 General Treaty of Inter-American Conciliation
- 1933 Anti-War Treaty of Non-Aggression and Conciliation (Saavedra Lamas Pact)
- 1934 Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States
- 1936 Convention to Coordinate, Extend and Assure the Fulfillment of the Existing Treaties between the American States
- Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Pact)
- Organization of American States (OAS)
- American Treaty on Pacific Settlement (Pact of Bogota)
- Andean Community / 1989 Galapagos Declaration and 2002 Lima Commitment [Note that the 1969 Cartagena Agreement establishing the Andean Community does not qualify for MTOPS, but several treaties signed by all CAN members do: the 1989 Galapagos Declaration ("Andean Commitment to Peace, Security, and Cooperation") and 2002 Lima Commitment ("Andean Charter for Peace and Security")]
- 1989 Galapagos Declaration and 2002 Lima Commitment
- Member States: not available online?
- Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)
- Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
European Treaties and Institutions
- Confederation of German States (German Confederation)
- 1925 Locarno Pact (Treaty of Mutual Guarantee) [Note that this only refers to the Treaty of Mutual Guarantee between Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Italy -- the bilateral Locarno agreements aren't included because they don't have enough participants.]
- Litvinov Protocol
- Western European Union (WEU)
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact)
- Council of Europe (COE) [Note that the COE Statute doesn't qualify for MTOPS -- only the later (and non-mandatory) Strasbourg Treaty does; COE membership is included here in case data set users are interested in this information.]
- Organization/Conference for Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/CSCE) [Note that the CSCE/OSCE by itself doesn't qualify for MTOPS -- only the later (and non-mandatory) Helsinki Final Act does; CSCE membership is included here in case data set users are interested in this information.]
- Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
- GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development [The organization only qualifies for the MTOPS data set with the signing of its charter in June 2001.]
- Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe: no longer exists (replaced by Regional Cooperation Council)
- South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP)
- Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
African Treaties and Institutions
- African Union (AU)/formerly Organization of African Unity (OAU)
- African and Malagasy Union for Defense (UAMD)
- Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) [ECOWAS treaty originally signed in May 1975 did not qualify, but the July 1993 revision did]
- ECOWAS Protocol of Non-Aggression [This is distinct from the 1975 and 1993 ECOWAS charters and contains different provisions)]
- 1978 Protocol on Non-Aggression and 1999 Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Security
- Member States: not available online?
- Southern African Development Community (SADC)
- Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
- Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) [ECCAS treaty signed in 1983 did not qualify for MTOPS, but the February 2000 COPAX Protocol did]
- Community of Sahel-Saharan States (Cen-Sad / COMESSA) [the 2/1998 founding charter does not appear to qualify, but the 2/2000 security charter does]
- International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR)
- East African Community (EAC)
Middle Eastern Treaties and Institutions
- League of Arab States (Arab League)
- Baghdad Pact / Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) / Middle East Treaty Organization (METO)
- Baghdad Pact
- Member States: see above document
Asian/Oceanian Treaties and Institutions
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
- Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) [dated from the signing of the Declaration of the Principles Guiding Relations among the CICA Member States)]
- Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
http://www.paulhensel.org/icowmtops.html
Last updated: 30 July 2018
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