DIFFICULTIES IN NEGOTIATING INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS. Any effort to secure a formal international agreement inevitably entails difficulties and costs, some predictable but others impossible to anticipate. Agreements that are declarations of policy and include no formal commitments pose few problems. But the more formal and inclusive the agreement sought, the greater the uncertainties. Informal declarations of policy may be useful in some situations. But formal and universal commitments are sometimes essential for an agreement to achieve its purposes. Formal commitments to prohibit and punish cyberattacks, to cooperate in prosecuting attackers and criminals, and to adopt agreed measures to enhance safety, would hold more promise of real results than mere verbal pronouncements. Though more valuable than informal declarations, multilateral agreements providing universal coverage are difficult and time consuming to negotiate, and ultimately provide no assurance that all signatories will abide by their commitments. Conventions related to air and sea terrorism, genocide, and torture have obtained virtually universal agreement from states, but even these fundamental obligations are sometimes violated by parties and high ranking officials. Such agreements are nonetheless made, with full awareness of their imperfections, because of their expected benefits. The process of securing international agreement on the many controversial issues associated with cyber security is certain to be complex, with uncertain outcomes on some possibly critical issues. Multilateral efforts that the U.S. originally supported concerning climate change, land mines, and an international criminal court resulted in treaties that the U.S. has refused to ratify. Other states have been unwilling to join agreements that the U.S. finds acceptable, notably the CEC. Efforts to extend the reach of a multilateral cyber security agreement to areas of activity where no true international consensus exists seem especially likely to do more harm than good. The potential costs and uncertainties in securing international agreements, and particularly of utiliz- ing UN mechanisms, can be limited through procedural measures and careful planning. Bilateral and informal arrangements could be used to build toward a broader set of understandings sufficient to jus- tify attempting to create a more conventional, multilateral agreement. Preparatory work with key states should enable participants to identify areas of activity related to cyber security that should be excl...
