Treaties are international agreements between two or more countries. The United States Constitution (Art. II, Section 2) requires that all treaties be ratified by the United States Senate after being signed by the President. Executive Agreements are entered into by the President with a foreign state and need no action by the Senate. Both are equally binding under international law.

Treaties in Force
A List of Treaties and Other International Agreements
of the United States in Force as of January 1, 2000

I. TREATIES TO WHICH THE UNITED STATES IS OR WAS A PARTY

Full text sources of treaties include: 

• UST (United States Treaties and Other International Agreements). 1950 - publication is approximately 8 years behind schedule.
• TIAS (Treaties and Other International Acts). 1945 - these are the advance sheets to UST and are retained only until the bound volume appears; publication is approximately 5 years behind schedule.  
• UNTS (United Nations Treaty Series).
• C.T.I.A. (Consolidated Treaties and International Agreements). 1990 - commercial publication that issues the treaties within a few months of release; issued quarterly.
• STAT (United States Statutes at Large). volume 8 contains treaties for 1778-1845.
• Witkor. Unperfected Treaties of the United States of America. 1776-1945 with legislative history summaries.
• Bevans (Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America). 1776-1949.
• Malloy, Treaties, Conventions, International Acts, Protocols and Agreements Between the United States of America and Other Powers, 1776-1937.
• Miller, Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America, 1776-1863.

Indexes and other finding tools

• Treaties in Force. This publication is updated by U.S. Dept. of State.
• A Guide to the United States Treaties in Force, Volumes I & II. Lists multilateral treaties by country and also provides a numerial list of the treaties as well as a subject reference index. 

Finding non-current treaties

• Kavass and Michael, United States Treaties and Other International Agreements Cumulative Index. 1776-1949,
• Kavass and Sprudzs, UST Cumulative Index and Supplements. 1950-70 with supplements and looseleaf
• Kavass and Sprudzs, Current Treaty Index. 1984
• Kavass and Sprudzs, Unpublished and Unnumbered Treaties Index.
• Volume 64 of United States Statutes at Large, Pt.3, P. 1107 et seq. This covers treaties from 1789-1949 except for treaties with Native American tribes. 

Legislative History

• CIS indexes all congressional materials, full text on microfiche.
• If the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has issued an Executive Report, the Draft text of the Treaty will often be in that report. CIS Index to U.S. Senate Executive Documents and Reports. 1818-1969

Updating Treaties

Consult the most recent Treaties in Force, Shepard's United States Citations Statute edition volume 5 and the paper supplements

II. TREATIES TO WHICH THE UNITED STATES IS NOT A PARTY

• U.N.T.S. (United Nations Treaty Series). 1946
• Harvard Law School Library, Index to Multilateral Treaties. This covers 1596-1963. It is a chronological listing with citations and it has subject and regional indexes. 
• Rohn, World Treaty Index. 2nd ed. This indexes treaties from the League of Nations, the United Nations, and 22,000 other treaties for the period 1900-1980. Citations are to LTS (League of Nations Treaties) UNTS, or to other countries' sources, only some of which we might have. (Use WebLUIS to check for holdings.) 

III. SUBJECT COMPILATIONS 

Our holdings include:

• Air and Aviation Treaties of the World. The Consolidated Treaty Series. 1648-1919  
• Extradition Laws and Treaties, United States.
• Foreign Relations of the United States. This series has documentation related to the foreign policy of the United States. 
• Key Treaties of the Great Powers. 1814-1914
• Major Peace Treaties of Modern History. 1648-1967
• Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General. 1981
• Federal Tax Treaties. (TAX)
• Tax Treaties. (TAX)
• Commercial Treaty Index.
• Annotated Topical Guide to U.S. Income Tax Treaties. (TAX)

LIC 1992. Updated 1994, 1997. Updated 2002, CV