Overview

This book is a systematic investigation of the origins and nature of the international society of today. The work of a study group of distinguished scholars, it examines comprehensively the expansion of the international society of European states across the rest of the globe, and its subsequent transformation from a society fashioned in Europe and dominated by Europeans into today's global international society of nearly two hundred states, the great majority of which are not European.The first section describes the predominance of the European system in a floodtide of expansion from the sixteenth century onwards, which united the whole world for the first time in a single economic, strategic, and political unit. The process whereby non-European states came to take their place as members of the same society, accepting its rules and institutions, is the subject of the second part; and the third section examines the repudiation of European, Russian, and American domination by states and peoples of the Third World and the consequent movement away from a system based on European hegemony. The last part is concerning with the new international order that has emerged from the ebb tide of European dominance, and focuses on a central question. Has the geographical expansion of international society led to a contradiction of the consensus about common interests, rules, and institutions on which an international society proper must rest? Or can we say that the old European system has been modified and developed in such a way that a new, genuinely universal, and non-hegemonial structure for international relations has taken root?A new foreword by Andrew Hurrell examines the impact of this seminal work and sets its continued contribution in context.

Full Product Details

Author:   Hedley Bull (Formerly Montague Burton Professor of International Relations, Formerly Montague Burton Professor of International Relations, The University of Oxford) ,  Adam Watson (Formerly Visiting Professor, Formerly Visiting Professor, University of Virginia)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
ISBN:  

9780198716860

ISBN 10:   0198716869
Pages:   490
Publication Date:   28 February 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   To order  

Table of Contents

Part 1: European International Society and the Outside World 1: Adam Watson: European International Society and its Expansion 2: Michael Howard: The Military Factor in European Expansion 3: Patrick O'Brien: Europe in the World Economy 4: Adam Watson: Russia and the European States System 5: Michael Donelan: Spain and the Indies 6: David Gillard: British and Russian Relations with Asian Governments in the Nineteenth Century 7: Hedley Bull: European States and African Political Communities Part II: The Entry of Non-European States into International Society 8: Hedley Bull: The Emergence of a Universal International Society 9: Adam Watson: New States in America 10: Thomas Naff: The Ottoman Empire and the European States System 11: Gerrit W. Gong: China's Entry into International Society 12: Hidemi Suganami: Japan's Entry into International Society 13: Wm. Roger Louis: The Era of the Mandates System and the Non-European World Part III: The Challenge to Western Dominance 14: Hedley Bull: The Revolt Against the West 15: Peter Lyon: The Emergence of the Third World 16: R.J. Vincent: Racial Equality 17: Coral Bell: China and the International Order 18: Gopal Krishna: India and the International Order: Retreat from Idealism 19: Ali Mazrui: Africa Entrapped: Between the Protestant Ethic and the Legacy of Westphalia 20: James Piscatori: Islam in the International Order 21: Richard Loewenthal: The Soviet Union and the Third World: From Anti-Imperialism to Counter-Imperialism 22: Christopher M. Andrew: France: Adjustment to Change Part IV: The New International Society 23: Elie Kedourie: A New International Disorder 24: Ian Brownlie: The Expansion of International Society: The Consequences for the Law of Nations 25: Michael Palliser: Diplomacy Today 26: Adda Bozeman: The International Order in a Multicultural World 27: Ronald Dore: Unity and Diversity in Contemporary World Culture

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Author Information

Hedley Bull was Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at Oxford University. Adam Watson was Visiting Professor at the Center for Advanced Studies, University of Virginia, and formerly of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

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