Editing International relations theory (section)

==English School==
{{Main|English school of international relations theory}}
The "[[English school of international relations theory|English School]]" of international relations theory, also known as International Society, Liberal Realism, Rationalism or the British institutionalists, maintains that there is a 'society of states' at the international level, despite the condition of "anarchy", i.e., the lack of a ruler or world state. Despite being called the English School many of the academics from this school were neither English nor from the United Kingdom.

A great deal of the work of the English School concerns the examination of traditions of past international theory, casting it, as [[Martin Wight]] did in his 1950s-era lectures at the [[London School of Economics]], into three divisions:
* Realist (or Hobbesian, after [[Thomas Hobbes]]), which views states as independent competing units
* Rationalist (or Grotian, after [[Hugo Grotius]]), which looks at how states can work together and cooperate for mutual benefit
* Revolutionist (or Kantian, after [[Immanuel Kant]]), which looks at human society as transcending borders or national identities
In broad terms, the English School itself has supported the rationalist or Grotian tradition, seeking a middle way (or via media) between the power politics of realism and the "utopianism" of revolutionism. The English School rejects [[behavioralist]] approaches to international relations theory.

One way to think about the English School is that, while some theories identify with just one of the three historical traditions (Classical Realism and Neorealism owe a debt to the Realist or Hobbesian tradition; Marxism to the Revolutionist tradition, for example), English School looks to combine all of them. While there is great diversity within the 'school', much of it involves either examining when and how the different traditions combine or dominate, or focusing on the Rationalist tradition, especially the concept of International Society (which is the concept most associated with English School thinking). The English School maintains that "the most distinguished theories of international politics can be divided into three basic categories: realism, which emphasises the concept of 'international anarchy'; revolutionism, which concentrates on the aspect of the 'moral unity' of the international society, and rationalism, which is based on the aspect of 'international dialogue and intercourse."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lewkowicz|first=Nicolas|title=The German Question and the International Order, 1943–48|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2010|isbn=978-1-349-32035-6|location=Basingstoke and New York|pages=8–9}}</ref> Therefore, the English School highlights the assiduous interaction between the main strands of IR theory in the understanding of interstate relations.

In Hedley Bull's ''The Anarchical Society,'' a seminal work of the school, he begins by looking at the concept of order, arguing that states across time and space have come together to overcome some of the danger and uncertainty of the Hobbesian international system to create an international society of states that share certain interests and ways of thinking about the world. By doing so, they make the world more ordered, and can eventually change international relations to become significantly more peaceful and beneficial to their shared interests.