In our daily lives we take the idea of “Good Faith” for granted.  Most of the time we trust people.  If we buy a train ticket to Paris, it doesn’t occur to us that it may end up in Berlin just because the engine driver feels like a trip to somewhere different.  If we didn’t have this trust, our lives together would be impossible.  Of course, we know that people are sometimes dishonest; but this is the exception, not the rule. 

 

 

Trust plays an important part in all types of relations, between persons as well as between states. Without trust international society would be a jungle or chaos. Individuals, states and even animals submit themselves to a social order based above all on the exclusion of deceitful behaviour: Mohammed Bedjaoui former President of the World Court, speaking in Geneva, May 2008.

But something strange happens when people work for large organisations like states.  They become dedicated to working for the “national interest”.  All too often this is defined in a very narrow and short-term way.  When states negotiate with each other it is difficult for them to work together for the common interest of humanity.  This is where bad faith shows itself.  This is especially true when nuclear weapons are involved because states see them as a symbol of their own power and importance.  So diplomats at the negotiating table often hidden agendas and make empty promises.  

Read more about the importance of Good Faith to the World Court Project...