Norms are what the system makes of them: Helsinki's lessons for normative diplomacy on climate change.

What factors lead to the promotion or dilution of a norm, and what determines the scope of a norm's exceptions? This paper examines two cases of normative change in international relations concerning the norm of territorial integrity and its evolution during the nineteen-seventies. In contrast to a single-case study approach, this paper compares processes in two regions providing variance in state practice and the robustness of the norm, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, in order to understand the role of norms in a larger context of multiple forces and their collective interactions. By comparing negotiations concerning the norm of territorial integrity during the period of détente and the Arab-Israeli wars, we can examine how the content of norms, and especially the scope of exceptions to a norm, are influenced by power differences and the formation of alliances willing to ensure compliance. In other words, norms are a consequence, as well as a cause, of change in the international system, especially in terms of the system's capacity to sanction. The implications for ongoing efforts in normative change such as those to prevent climate change are that any effective agreement must enable the system to restructure incentives through both coordination and the development of linkages so as to provide the material leverage necessary for inducing changes in state policies and individual behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]