From Commitment to Capacity: Toward a Governance Gap Theory of International Implementation Failure

International commitment failure is frequently diagnosed as a deficit of political will. This paper proposes a Governance Gap Theory, demonstrating that implementation failure in international agreements stems systematically from institutional capacity constraints rather than mere political recalcitrance. By examining multi-domain compliance data across environmental, trade, and security governance, we articulate a dual-level capacity model that reconciles commitment intent with operational delivery.