The English School
International society: order among states without world government.
Conceptual diagram, not data.
The English School occupies a middle ground between realism and liberalism. It accepts that the international system is anarchic, in the sense that there is no overarching government, but argues that states nonetheless form an international society. Within it, they recognise common interests, accept common rules and work through shared institutions.
Key thinker. Hedley Bull's The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics (1977) is the School's central text. Bull distinguished an international system, in which states merely interact and must take one another into account, from an international society, in which they also consider themselves bound by common rules. He identified institutions of international society as the balance of power, international law, diplomacy, war and the great powers. Here 'institutions' means settled practices rather than formal organisations. Bull also examined the tension between order among states and justice for individuals.
Pluralism and solidarism. A long-running debate within the School separates pluralists, who emphasise sovereignty and non-intervention among states with differing values, from solidarists, who see scope for shared commitments such as the protection of human rights.
Applying it today. The English School offers a vocabulary for asking whether the practices that sustain international order, such as diplomacy, law and multilateral management of conflict, are being strengthened or eroded. Changes in how peace operations are mandated and led raise exactly these questions. See MER/26/B01, Fewer Peacekeepers, More Wars Between States.
References
- Bull, H. (1977) The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics. London: Macmillan. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3490685W