The field of international relations is largely studied to try to understand order and chaos in world politics. Conflict is often the rule, and therefore institutionalized patters of cooperation are particularly in need of explanation. In this article, the author attemps to clarify our understanding of international order, and international cooperation, through an interpretation of international regime-formation that relies heavily on rational-choice analysis in the utilitarian social contract tradition. He explores why self-interested actors in world politics should seek, under certain circumstances, to establish international regimes through mutual agreement, and how fluctuations over time in the number, extent, and strength of international regimes can be accounted for.
