Nationalism and International Society


Book Description

Geared to the interests of modern historians of world decolonization and economic nationalism, this study of international relations will provide insight into issues relevant to nationalism and international society.




International Society


Book Description

This book provides an introduction to, and analysis of, the English School’s views on International Relations as they developed from the somewhat vague state/society distinction to the present focus on foundation institutions, regional organisation and the globalization of international society. It focuses on key thinkers and texts and turning points and moves our understanding of the English School beyond the past work of the British Committee to the more recent work of Barry Buzan et. al. to offer a comprehensive overview and interrogation from the leading lights of this arm of International Relations thought. This volume is one of the cornerstones of the EISA sponsored Trends in European IR Theory series complementing the volumes on International Political Theory, Liberalism, Realism, International Political Economy, the post-positivist tradition, and Feminism published for the centenary of IR as a discipline.




Guide to the English School in International Studies


Book Description

Bringing together the latest scholarship from a global group of expert contributors, this guide offers a comprehensive examination of the English School approach to the study of international relations. Explains the major ideas of the British Committee on International Relations, including the idea of and institutions connected to an international society, the emerging notion of world society, and order within international relations Describes the English School’s methods of analyzing themes, trends, and dilemmas Focuses on the historical and geographical expansion of international society, and particularly on the effects of colonization and imperialism Serves as an essential reference for students, researchers, and academics in international relations




International Society and the Middle East


Book Description

International Society and the Middle East brings together a distinguished cast of theorists and Middle East experts to provide a comprehensive overview of the region's history and how its own traditions have mixed, often uncomfortably, with the political structures imposed by the expansion of Western international society.




International Theory


Book Description

Reinvestigates realism in the context of international relations through a dialogue between classical international theory and critical theoretical challenges to it. Essays in international theory are combined with writings in critical and postructuralist theories of international relations.




International Relations Theory Today


Book Description

International Relations (IR) theorists speak with conviction, and often passion, to the global condition of human society. The result is an important, dynamic and often deeply divided field. This long-awaited new edition of International Relations Theory Today offers undergraduate and postgraduate students an essential guide to the complex terrain of IR theory and the key questions on its agenda. With chapters by 25 prominent and provocative IR theorists, the book reveals the intellectual excitement - and turmoil - of theorizing world politics. It reflects the conflicts and tensions around the profound challenges facing the contemporary world, such as climate change, globalization, nuclear proliferation, and economic and political injustice and conflict, while also expressing hope that we can better understand, and respond to, these challenges. Above all, this book demonstrates the significance of thinking theoretically about international relations and developing the tools not merely to describe but also to explain, analyse, prescribe and possibly re-imagine the global political landscape. As the world comes face-to-face with historic challenges over the coming decades, International Relations Theory Today will help its readers to participate more effectively in debates about the most important global political dilemmas of our time.




Social Theory of International Politics


Book Description

Drawing upon philosophy and social theory, Social Theory of International Politics develops a theory of the international system as a social construction. Alexander Wendt clarifies the central claims of the constructivist approach, presenting a structural and idealist worldview which contrasts with the individualism and materialism which underpins much mainstream international relations theory. He builds a cultural theory of international politics, which takes whether states view each other as enemies, rivals or friends as a fundamental determinant. Wendt characterises these roles as 'cultures of anarchy', described as Hobbesian, Lockean and Kantian respectively. These cultures are shared ideas which help shape state interests and capabilities, and generate tendencies in the international system. The book describes four factors which can drive structural change from one culture to another - interdependence, common fate, homogenization, and self-restraint - and examines the effects of capitalism and democracy in the emergence of a Kantian culture in the West.




International Society and the De Facto State


Book Description

Originally published in 1998, International Society and the De Facto Society explores the phenomenon of de facto statehood in contemporary international relations. The de facto state is almost the inverse of what Robert Jackson has termed the ‘quasi-state’. The quasi-state has an ambassador, a flag, and a seat at the United Nations, but it does not function positively as a viable governing entity. Its limitations though, do not detract from sovereign legitimacy. The de facto state, on the other hand, lacks legitimacy yet effectively controls a given territorial area and provides governmental services to a specific population. The book engages in a birth, life, and death or evolution examination of the de facto state.




From International to World Society?


Book Description

Barry Buzan offers an extensive and long overdue critique and reappraisal of the English school approach to International Relations. Starting on the neglected concept of world society and bringing together the international society tradition and the Wendtian mode of constructivism, Buzan offers a new theoretical framework that can be used to address globalisation as a complex political interplay among state and non-state actors. This approach forces English school theory to confront neglected questions about both its basic concepts and assumptions, and about the constitution of society in terms of what values are shared, how and why they are shared, and by whom. Buzan highlights the idea of primary institutions as the central contribution of English school theory and shows how this both differentiates English school theory from realism and neoliberal institutionalism, and how it can be used to generate distinctive comparative and historical accounts of international society.




The Anarchical Society


Book Description

The Anarchical Society is one of the masterworks of political science and the classic text on the nature of order in world politics. Originally published in 1977, it continues to define and shape the discipline of international relations. This edition has been updated with a new, interpretive foreword by Andrew Hurrell.