Barriers are generally greatest in the developing world.
Since proposals to radically reconstitute the current system of international law and institutions will most likely not be followed, environmental diplomacy will be the principal means through which barriers to international agreement, compliance, and reform will be pursued. The insights of such a methodology will provide greater understanding of the most marginalized states, such as those listed above. This project diverges from existing research in its historical, sociological, and anthropological emphases. The result of the primary phase of research will be detailed case studies of the policy development and political decisionmaking behind each state s recent history of international environmental cooperation. The second stage will consist of answering the question of whether these and other case studies support the development of a general methodology.