Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and Order in International Relations

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Mahdi Ansari

PHD in International Relations, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22067/ips.2026.83986.1010

Abstract

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) constitutes one of the most significant multilateral agreements of the post-Cold War era and has generated extensive debate within International Relations scholarship. Existing studies have primarily examined the agreement through realist, liberal institutionalist, and constructivist perspectives, yet its implications for international order remain underexplored. Drawing on the English School of International Relations, this article examines the extent to which the JCPOA contributed to the maintenance of international order, and what its subsequent erosion reveals about the resilience of international society. Methodologically, the study employs qualitative document analysis and process tracing grounded in primary sources, including the JCPOA, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, International Atomic Energy Agency reports, and official statements by the participating actors. The analysis centers on the primary institutions of international society, namely diplomacy, international law, balance of power, and great-power management. The article argues that the JCPOA constituted an order-maintaining arrangement through which major actors sought to reconcile non-proliferation objectives with regional stability and conflict avoidance. The United States' withdrawal from the agreement in 2018, however, exposed the fragility of institutionalized order in the absence of sustained great-power consensus. These findings demonstrate that the English School offers a distinctive framework for understanding both the formation and deterioration of the JCPOA, in that it emphasizes the relationship between shared rules, institutions, and international order.

Keywords

JCPOA

English School

International Order

International Society

Diplomacy

Great-Power Management

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