How are treaties enforced?
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They aren’t. Not in the sense that people usually mean when they use the word “enforce” to refer to treaties and international agreements at least. The nation is the highest level of sovereignty, and few nations are willing to give up sovereignty to a higher international governing body to enforce a treaty. No one is going to come in and “arrest” a nation for breaking the rules.
That being said, many nations view upholding treaties as important from a “soft-power” perspective. A treaty is only as good as the word of nation that signs it. Why would anyone cooperate with a nation that frequently breaks treaties? They probably won’t. And that could make it difficult for that nation to engage in beneficial agreements. This has increasingly become more important in the modern, globalized world, where international cooperation is essential for a nation’s success.
Also, many treaties are made after war, where the losing side is forced to agree to terms to the victor. In this case, it is implied that the loser MUST follow the treaty under the threat of further violence from the victor in the war. However, if the loser no longer believes the threat of violence from the victor, the treaty might end up getting broken (see German military build-up in the 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles for details).
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