Because a central authority is absent in international relations, political scientists have developed the concept of a regime, defined as `sets of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures around which expectations converge in a given area of international relations' (Krasner, 1983: 2). The principles and procedures imply obligations, even though these are not enforceable through a hierarchical legal system. Regimes reflect patterns of cooperation over time
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