There are 195 countries all playing in the same sandbox that is planet Earth.

While there are many ways countries can interact with each other, the primary method of diplomacy used for international agreements comes in the form of treaties.

But who ensures that treaties are upheld?

Nations operate as sovereign entities, meaning no higher authority governs them collectively.

All nations are on equal footing.

Ultimately, treaties rely on the integrity and interest of the nations involved without a higher authority.

Enforcement is often based on trust and consequences rather than direct legal punishment.

In a sense, a treaty is only as good as the word of a nations who sign it.

Unsurprisingly, all the world's major powers have broken treaties at some point.

The United States, for example, signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868 with the Sioux Nation that recognized the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation.

Set aside for exclusive use by the Sioux people, this treaty was meant to establish peace and define Native American lands.

After years of conflict with the US military, however, the US government violated the treaty just nine years later when Congress passed an act that redrew the lines of the treaty, seized the Black Hills, and allowed the US to build roads through reservation lands.

This violation had lasting consequences.

In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that the US did in fact illegally break this treaty and ordered the government to pay $105 million to the Sioux Nation.

However, the Sioux refused the money, arguing the land was never for sale.

The court ordered compensation is held in a US Treasury trust fund unused, accumulating interest.

Today the total amount is valued at $1.5 billion.

Other major treaty violations include Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, violating the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

Nazi Germany's invasion of the USSR in 1941, breaking the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and North Korea's withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 2003 At this point, it can seem like treaties are nothing more than a lawless piece of paper stating the intent of a nation at a specific time.

However, there are some ways treaties are enforced.

Many countries incorporate treaties into their domestic legal systems, creating obligations within the nation to follow the treaty.

Organizations such as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and the International Criminal Court can help enforced treaties by monitoring compliance and issuing rulings.

The International Court of Justice, for example, settles disputes between nations, but only if both parties have agreed to its jurisdiction.

While legal avenues help to add some security, perhaps the most powerful enforcement lies in the consequences of violating a treaty.

Many treaties rely on mutual benefits, such as trade agreements.

These agreements are largely self-enforcing because breaking them would cause economic retaliation.

Countries that break their promises may face sanctions, trade restrictions, or lose their foreign aid, not to mention the loss of reputation.

In extreme cases, treaty violations can lead to military intervention.

In 1999, for example, NATO bombed Yugoslavia because the nation failed to follow the terms of the Dayton Agreement, a peace treaty that sought the end of the Kosovo War.

As you can see, treaties have the power to shape the future of our collective sandbox.

Yet their strength ultimately depends on the willingness of nations to honor their commitments.