The British School of International Relations: A Comprehensive Overview, Assignments of International Relations

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International Relations

British School

The Brit ish School

Also known as;

Liberal Realism ,

Rationalism,

Grotianism or

the British institutionalists ,

maintains that there is a 'society of states' at the international level, despite the condition of 'anarchy' (literally the lack of a ruler or world state).

Main Contribution to IRT: International Society 

International relations represents a

society of states.



This international society can be

detected in the ideas that animate

the key institutions that regulate

international relations:



war,



thegreat power,



diplomacy,



the balance of power, and



international law, especially in the

mutual recognition by states.

International society theory (the British school)

focuses on the shared norms and values of states and how they regulate international relations.

Examples of such norms include diplomacy, order, and international law.

Unlike neo-realism, it is not necessarily positivist.

Theorists have focused particularly on humanitarian intervention.

Evolution of the English School: 12  Stage 3 (77-92): Flourishing period of academic works.  The English school made improvements to its theory of international society and strengthened its position in academia.  A new generation of its members started to fill out the vacancies left out by the old members.  (^) Stage 4 (92-present): Self-transcendence.  (^) New members like Buzan and Dunne furnished the school’s international society theory.  (^) In this period, the school discovered the American mainstream thoughts could not fully explain the post-Cold War political issues and in response, set it in relation to factors long ignored by the mainstream schools of thought, like history, culture and society.  (^) Therefore, the English school was elevated to the height on a par with Constructivism.

3 traditions of thought in international politics— 3 “R” (Martin Wight)

R-1. Realist or Hobbesian, who views world politics in a constant status of war.  (^) R-2. Rationalist (or Grotian), who acknowledges the birth of international politics out of an international society.  (^) R-3. Revolutionist (or Kantian), who argues for the effect the community of mankind plays in international politics. 3R shapes the school’s perception into the nature of international relations by “viewing simultaneously the different dimensions and observing how they balance and interact with each other”.

② 3 key concepts:

international system, international society and world society



An international system is formed when two or more states

have sufficient contact between them, and have sufficient

impact on one another’s decisions, to cause them to behave



An international society exists when a group of states,

conscious of certain common interests and common values,

form a society in the sense that they conceive themselves

to be bound by a common set of rules in their relations with

one another, and share in the working of common

institutions. (Bull)



A world society is a representation of world community in

broad terms and it include nations, multi-national

organizations, NGOs and individuals.



It shows the transition from international society to world

society during which a strong willingness is exhibited in

pushing for this progress and incorporating the positive

factors working in the current system like international law,

order, cooperation and coordination into a new world order

whose components may be non-state entities. 10

Compared with Constructivism:  The British School is similar to Constructivism in terms of understanding international relations: both stress on the value of social factors such as ideas, recognition and norms.  But Constructivism is a sociological paradigm, with an attempt studying international society;  while the British School is a historical philosophy, a political theory on international society.

goals by the international society: ① preservation of the system and society of states itself; ② maintenance of the independence or external sovereignty of individual states; ③ maintenance of peace in the sense of the absence of war among member states of international society as the normal condition of their relationship. The three conditions show that international cooperation is represented by the international society.

Dynamics of cooperation in an international society

 Two foundations for the cooperation in international society:  common interests (or recognition of primary values), and  shared value system (or ideational convergence in common culture or civilization).

1 - The balance of power  (^) “states agree to regulate their interaction”. It functions in: ① the existence of a general balance of power throughout the international system as a whole serves to prevent the system from being transformed by conquest into a universal empire; ② the existence of local balance of power serves to protect the independence of states in particular areas from absorption or domination by a locally preponderant power; ③ the existence of the both general and local balance of power creates conditions for the institutions (such as diplomacy, war, international law and great power management) that guarantee an international order to function well.  (^) The balance of power place an emphasis on cooperation not confrontation.  (^) It highlights the cultures and values shared by members in a balanced system of power, regards them as key elements shaping and maintaining international order.

2 - International law

“a body of rules governing the mutual interaction not

only of states but of other agents in international

politics”. It functions in:

① establishing the idea of a society of states as the

supreme normative principle

② statement of the basic rules of coexistence among

states and other actors in international society;

③ the principles include restriction of violence,

agreements among states, norms concerning

sovereignty and independence;

④ assisting and mobilizing actors in international society

to abide by international society’s rules for achieving

coexistence, cooperation and other goals.

International law increases the predictability of a

member state’s foreign policies in relation to others’,

4 - War  (^) War is also an institution of international society which could maintain the international order apart from the destruction war incurs.  (^) From the perspective of the independent states, war is a policy means for a nation’s ends.  (^) From the perspective of the international system, wars are decisive factors shaping the international system. They determine states’ fates, borders and regime jurisdiction.  (^) From the perspective of the international society, war is on the one side a dimension of the anarchical international society, which should be limited and contained by international rules; and on the other side is a necessary means enforcing international rules, which is sometimes justified.

5 - The great powers

The imbalance of state power enables the great states

to have more discourse power than the small ones;

they can to some extent dominate international affairs

and international order in several ways:

avoiding and controlling crisis, limiting or containing

war, unilaterally exercising local preponderance,

mutually respecting each other’s premise,.

 The legitimacy of great powers should be

acknowledged by other members in the system,

otherwise, great powers cannot effectively stabilize

the order of international system.