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The Sheridan Libraries

International Treaties (SAIS)

Finding Treaties

Treaties are the end result of negotiations between two or more parties. There is no single comprehensive index or collection of treaties available in print or online. It may be necessary to check several sources to locate a treaty and there may be a delay of many years before the official text is published.

Treaties Research

Flare Index to Treaties
Indexes significant multilateral treaties from 1353 onwards and some bilateral treaties from 1353 to 1815.

Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General
This UN publication, included in the United Nations Treaty Collection, provides information on the status of treaties deposited with the United Nations.

World Treaty Library
Comprehensive multi-source treaty index covering 1648-current.

British and Foreign State Papers
A useful resource for hard-to-find bilateral and multilateral treaties from 1812-1968 compiled by the British Foreign Office.

Consolidated Treaty Series
(Print only). Collection of any treaty text published between 1648 and 1920. Includes both multilateral and bilateral treaties. Includes a 3 vol. index to the series.

Treaties in Force (TIF)
The primary index to U.S. treaties, issued annually. Also available in print: JX 236 1929c

Treaty Affairs, U.S. Dept. of State
The Office of Treaty Affairs serves as the principal U.S. goverment repository for U.S. treaties and other international agreements. Includes links to treaties pending in the U.S. Senate.

Congress.gov Treaty Documents
Searchable index of treaties pending in the US Senate which shows the status of their consideration.

If the links in any of these guides lead to databases that are not available to you, check for the same database through Johns Hopkins Libraries’ Databases, as Hopkins may also subscribe.