Hedley Bull
Order among sovereign states
The argument
How can states maintain an international order without a world government? Bull examines the rules and practices that make a society of states possible, even when its members compete and sometimes go to war.
His account gives diplomacy, international law and the balance of power a place alongside conflict. It asks what holds an order together and whether alternatives to the states system would do better.
A question to consider
When rival governments keep diplomatic channels open during a crisis, what shared practices are they trying to preserve?
An illustration for this Library, not a policy recommendation attributed to Hedley Bull.
Keep in mind
Explaining how an order survives does not settle whether it treats everyone fairly. Bull addresses order and justice as distinct questions.
This is a reading essay. It has no questionnaire scores or position on the Worldview Map.
Read the source
The Anarchical Society (opens in another tab) ↗
Columbia University Press · 1977
Publisher description and contents for the fourth edition of the 1977 work; not a review of the full text.