English School And The Concept Of International Society

The English School has always been an important tradition in the International Relations discipline despite its negligence for years by American mainstream theorists who dismiss the School's "historical" and "interpretative" approach as "non-scientific." This trend has been reversed in the post-Cold War era when people in the IR community have gradually become aware of the mainstream theories' lack of explanatory power and resilience due to its oversimplification of the real world. By exploring the works by leading figures of the English School such as Martin Wight and Hedley Bull, people have rediscovered insights and wisdoms within the decades-old books with which they can better understand the current world politics.It is against this background that this paper is written in an attempt to provide a more detailed picture of the School's major doctrines, having considered the fact that there is only limited scholarship of the School in our country. As the seminal concept of the School, "international society" not surprisingly is the focus of the present effort. A thorough and in-depth analysis will be given to anatomize the very notion from the English School perspective, which in fact views international society as a unique and distinct form of society, radically different from domestic one. Somewhat similar to primitive societies, such an international society, anarchical as it is, possesses certain order to justify the very appellation. And the order is maintained by the society's distinct institutions such as states themselves, balance of power, diplomacy, international law, great powers and war.Despite the force of the argument, a further understanding will be acquired if the critics of the school are given due consideration. Some of the critics actually reform or reinforce the original English School tenets, presenting a better-defined and more adaptable international society concept. By drawing insights from these views, we shall demonstrate the enormous potential exhibited by the English School in understanding and shaping the volatile international situations.