If nations cooperate, it is because it is believed to be in their interest to do so. Social-contract-like considerations form the basis for that belief. (The social contract is simply that which makes it useful to cooperate.)
The social contract, according to Hobbes and its later proponents, is the implicit deal that citizens (and, at a logical extension, other subordinate entities) make with their governments, trading off some of their freedom of action for greater security and potentially the maintenance of certain rights. That implies some higher authority with compelling powers of enforcement, and there’s no such thing in international relations; it’s been described (indeed, by Hobbes himself) as a formalized anarchy. Using the phrase to describe the motives for cooperation in such a state extends it far beyond its original sense, and IMO beyond usefulness.
There are however other reasons to cooperate: status, self-enforced codes of ethics, enlightened self-interest. It’s these that dominate in international relations, which is why I brought that up.
The social contract, according to Hobbes and its later proponents, is the implicit deal that citizens (and, at a logical extension, other subordinate entities) make with their governments, trading off some of their freedom of action for greater security and potentially the maintenance of certain rights. That implies some higher authority with compelling powers of enforcement, and there’s no such thing in international relations; it’s been described (indeed, by Hobbes himself) as a formalized anarchy. Using the phrase to describe the motives for cooperation in such a state extends it far beyond its original sense, and IMO beyond usefulness.
There are however other reasons to cooperate: status, self-enforced codes of ethics, enlightened self-interest. It’s these that dominate in international relations, which is why I brought that up.