Combining scholarship on norms and trust in International Relations, this article puts forward the concept of entrusted norms as a novel means to understand certain dynamics of cooperation and conflict in international politics. Entrusted norms differ from non-entrusted norms both in the manner that they are policed and in the reaction to their infringement. In the first case, there are few formal hedging mechanisms taken against potential defection. In the second case, when broken, they result in a betrayal reaction where a return to the behavioral status quo is insufficient to return to the political status quo. We illustrate the analytical usefulness of entrusted norms through an examination of the established norms of diplomacy within the Gulf Cooperation Council, paying particular attention to interactions between Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the post-Arab Spring period. We argue that the perception of Qatar’s defection from an entrusted norm, the preservation of individual and collective dignity, contributed to the 2014 diplomatic rupture between these two states and set in motion a betrayal/attempted reconciliation cycle, where even Qatar’s attempts to move back to the behavioral status quo prior to the fallout have been insufficient to fully repair the relationship. In addition to providing a novel interpretation to this case, this paper highlights the need for further theoretical consideration of the severity and duration of punishment after norm transgression within social constructivism, reinforces the theoretical connection between social structures and emotions, and advocates for an expansion in the domains of trust that we study.

本文结合国际关系中关于规范和信任的学术研究，提出了委托规范的概念，作为理解国际政治中某些合作与冲突动态的新手段。受托规范与非受托规范的不同之处在于它们的监管方式和对其侵权的反应。在第一种情况下，很少有针对潜在叛逃的正式对冲机制。在第二种情况下，当它们被破坏时，它们会导致背叛反应，在这种情况下，回到行为现状不足以回到政治现状。我们通过检查海湾合作委员会内既定的外交规范来说明委托规范的分析用途，特别关注后阿拉伯之春时期沙特阿拉伯和卡塔尔之间的互动。我们认为，卡塔尔背离受托规范、维护个人和集体尊严的看法促成了这两个国家之间 2014 年的外交破裂，并启动了一个背叛/企图和解的循环，甚至卡塔尔也试图回到后果之前的行为现状不足以完全修复这种关系。除了对该案例提供新的解释外，本文还强调了社会建构主义对违反规范后惩罚的严重程度和持续时间进行进一步理论考虑的必要性，加强了社会结构与情感之间的理论联系，