Liberal World Orders, Reciprocal and Hierarchic

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjo Koivisto
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Society ◽  
International Order ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
English School ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Practice Analysis ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Historical Practices

This chapter deals with the question of hierarchy in liberal orders. English School theorizing has, since Hedley Bull's seminal work, regarded reciprocal international society institutions such as international law as the foundations of international order. Yet recent scholarship has indicated that the way reciprocal institutions have historically been practised has portrayed international society institutions as being just as hierarchic as they are reciprocal. Drawing together English School theory and practice analysis in International Relations, the chapter illustrates how both reciprocity and hierarchies in liberal order emerge out of the historical practices of international politics. Examples look at the conventions of diplomacy and international law to understand continuity and change in liberal orders' hierarchies and reciprocal practices.

The English School and Institutions: British Institutionalists?

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laust Schouenborg
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Society ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
English School ◽  
International Institution ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Primary Institutions ◽  
Hedley Bull

The argument can be made, and has in fact been made, that the English School is primarily concerned with the study of institutions. The institutions of international society are social in a fundamental sense. That is, they are something above and beyond what one usually associates with an international institution. There are three dominant perspectives on what the primary institutions of international society are: functional, historical/descriptive, and typological. Hedley Bull was the major proponent of the functional perspective, and he identified five primary institutions of international society: the balance of power, international law, diplomacy, war, and the great powers. However, the historical/descriptive perspective appears to be the prevailing one. Nevertheless, various authors have started to think about the institutions of international society typologically. This has certain implications for how one views the cognitive objectives of the English School. The adherence to functional, historical/descriptive, or typological perspectives involves a positioning in relation to where international relations (IR), as a discipline, and the English School, as an approach to it, should locate itself in wider academia.

The Justification of War and International Order

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
International Law ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
International Order ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Pertinent Literature ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Modern Times

The history of war is also a history of its justification. The contributions to this book argue that the justification of war rarely happens as empty propaganda. While it is directed at mobilizing support and reducing resistance, it is not purely instrumental. Rather, the justification of force is part of an incessant struggle over what is to count as justifiable behaviour in a given historical constellation of power, interests, and norms. This way, the justification of specific wars interacts with international order as a normative frame of reference for dealing with conflict. The justification of war shapes this order and is being shaped by it. As the justification of specific wars entails a critique of war in general, the use of force in international relations has always been accompanied by political and scholarly discourses on its appropriateness. In much of the pertinent literature the dominating focus is on theoretical or conceptual debates as a mirror of how international normative orders evolve. In contrast, the focus of the present volume is on theory and political practice as sources for the re- and de-construction of the way in which the justification of war and international order interact. The book offers a unique collection of papers exploring the continuities and changes in war discourses as they respond to and shape normative orders from early modern times to the present. It comprises contributions from International Law, History and International Relations and from Western and non-Western perspectives.

scholarly journals Anarchy in International Relations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silviya Lechner
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Society ◽  
English School ◽  
Ir Theory ◽  
Interaction Domain ◽  
Alternative Discourse ◽  
The Third ◽  
Analytical Review ◽  
International Anarchy

The concept of anarchy is seen as the cardinal organizing category of the discipline of International Relations (IR), which differentiates it from cognate disciplines such as Political Science or Political Philosophy. This article provides an analytical review of the scholarly literature on anarchy in IR, on two levels—conceptual and theoretical. First, it distinguishes three senses of the concept of anarchy: (1) lack of a common superior in an interaction domain; (2) chaos or disorder; and (3) horizontal relation between nominally equal entities, sovereign states. The first and the third senses of “anarchy”’ are central to IR. Second, it considers three broad families of IR theory where anarchy figures as a focal assumption—(1) realism and neorealism, (2) English School theory (international society approach), and (3) Kant’s republican peace. Despite normative and conceptual differences otherwise, all three bodies of theory are ultimately based on Hobbes’s argument for a “state of nature.” The article concludes with a summary of the key challenges to the discourse of international anarchy posed by the methodology of economics and economics-based theories that favor the alternative discourse of global hierarchy.

The Justification and Critique of Coercion as World Order Politics

2021 ◽  
pp. 489-500
Author(s):  
Christopher Daase ◽  
Nicole Deitelhoff
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
World Order ◽  
International Order ◽  
Physical Force ◽  
Coercive Measures ◽  
Economic Coercion ◽  
Normative Expectations

The present chapter turns from the justification of war (the use of force) to the justification of coercion. It proceeds on the assumption that to stabilize the current international order requires less ‘legitimate force’ and more ‘legitimate coercion’ since in most institutions the enforcement of norms—as the very basis of order—does not only or even primarily rely on physical force but on various forms of political and economic coercion. The chapter distinguishes various forms of coercion and reconstructs debates in International Law and International Relations with regard to their legality, legitimacy, and effectiveness. Doing so, Christopher Daase and Nicole Deitelhoff intend to broaden the debate on world order by redirecting the focus from the use of force to the use of less violent coercive measures. Specifically, the chapter introduces a concept of sanction as a means of communicating normative expectations to the normative community rather than executing punishments.

14. The politics of international law

2021 ◽  
pp. 316-327
Author(s):  
Nicole Scicluna
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Politics ◽  
International Order ◽  
First Century ◽  
Postwar Period ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Material Power

This chapter draws together the key themes of this book, using contemporary debates over the nature and future of international order, and explores likely sources of continuity and change in the politics of international law. It begins by expanding on the concept of international order and, more specifically, the so-called liberal international order that has framed international politics in the postwar period. The chapter asks whether and why the liberal international order is in crisis and how it is likely to evolve. It then turns to the rise of non-Western powers, a phenomenon that many observers have argued is contributing to the crisis of the current order. The focus is on what the changing balance of material power may reveal about the present and future of international law. Finally, the chapter offers some tentative conclusions about the politics of international law two decades into the twenty-first century.

Ciceronian international society

2019 ◽  
pp. 175508821989578
Author(s):  
Stephen Patrick Sims
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Society ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Valuable Resource ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
International Theory ◽  
Political Thinker

This article explores what Cicero as a political thinker can offer to the study of international relations. Although previous readings of Cicero have emphasized his Stoic influences and his natural law teaching as the basis of a cosmopolitan world society, I emphasize the way in which Cicero can deepen the concept of international society. International society relies on certain norms and institutions to function properly, such as international law, sovereignty, and the use of war to restrain violence and redress injustice. We find all these concepts articulated clearly in Cicero’s moral and political thought. Cicero also shows the limits of these institutions and norms, explaining why none of them is absolute. Finally, Cicero adds to our theorizing about international society by drawing attention to the role of honor, ruling, and inequality in international society. As such, classical political thought, and Cicero’s in particular, provide a valuable resource for future thinking about international theory.

Sovereignty under attack: the international society meets the Al Qaeda network

2005 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barak Mendelsohn
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Society ◽  
International System ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
English School ◽  
State Actor

This article examines the complex relations between a violent non-state actor, the Al Qaeda network, and order in the international system. Al Qaeda poses a challenge to the sovereignty of specific states but it also challenges the international society as a whole. This way, the challenge that Al Qaeda represents is putting the survival of the system under risk. Consequently it requires that the international society will collectively respond to meet the threat. But challenges to both the practical sovereignty of states and to the international society do not have to weaken the system. Instead, such challenges if handled effectively may lead to the strengthening of the society of states: a robust international society is dynamic and responsive to threats. Its members could cooperate to adapt the principles and the institutions on which the system is founded to new circumstances. Through its focus on the preservation qualities of the international society this article also reinforces the significance of the English School to the study of international relations. It raises important questions that could be answered in the framework of the English School.

scholarly journals Pacifismo jurídico = Legal pacifism

2019 ◽  
pp. 220
Author(s):  
José Antonio García Sáez
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
International Order ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
Central Division ◽  
Sustainable Peace ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
History Of ◽  
Outlawry Of War

Resumen: Guerra y paz pueden ser pensadas como dos momentos que están destinados a sucederse alternativamente dentro la historia de las relaciones internacionales. Pero también cabe la esperanza de que a través del desarrollo de un orden internacional fuerte pueda conseguirse una paz perpetua o, cuanto menos, duradera. A ese fin han destinado sus esfuerzos numerosos juristas cuyas obras pueden ser enmarcadas dentro del pacifismo jurídico. En este texto se tratará de ordenar los rasgos característicos de esta posición, tomando como división central aquella que separa los autores que han apostado por la prohibición de la guerra de aquellos que han apostado por su progresiva superación. Ambas posiciones compartirán su preferencia por el fortalecimiento de las instituciones internacionales, además de una cierta vocación cosmopolita. Palabras clave: Pacifismo jurídico, guerra, paz, filosofía del derecho internacional. Abstract: War and peace could be thought as two moments bound to succeed each other within the history of international relations. But there is also room for the hope in a perpetual or, at least, sustainable peace thorough the development of a strong international order. Several legal scholars, whose works can be labelled inside the legal pacifism, have devoted their efforts to that end. This paper tries to put some order about the main features of legal pacifism. It takes as a central division their position towards war: some legal pacifists have defended the total outlawry of war, while others have considered preferable a progressive overcoming of war. Both positions will share the preference for strength the international institutions, together with a certain degree of cosmopolitan commitment. Keywords: legal pacifism, war, peace, philosophy of international law.

scholarly journals Complexity in international society: theorising fragmentation and linkages in primary and secondary institutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Dennis R. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
International Society ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Structural Condition ◽  
English School ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Complex Systems Thinking

This article seeks to contribute to theorising the institutional structure of international society by exploring synergies between complex systems thinking and the English School theory of International Relations (IR). Suggesting that the English School already embraces key conceptual insights from complexity theory, most notably relational and adaptive systems thinking, it reconfigures international society as a complex social system. To further advance the English School’s research programme on international institutions, the article introduces the notion of “law-governed emergence” and distils two effects it has on global institutional ordering practices: fragmentation and clustering. These moves help to establish complexity as a fundamental structural condition of institutional ordering at the global level, and to provide a basis for taking steps toward better understanding the nature and significance of institutional interconnections in a globalised international society.

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