The English School Conception of International Society: Reflections on Western and non-Western Perspectives

The English School of International Relations has produced detailed studies of the development of the European society of states and its expansion to all parts of the world. Leading members have analysed the processes that led to the incorporation of non-Western peoples in the society of states. They have displayed satisfaction that those ways of life have accepted Western principles of international order. They have considered the challenges that exist in ensuring that a Western-dominated international society satisfies the interests of non-Western communities. The English School is a Western approach to international relations, but it invites more global orientations in which Western and non-Western scholars explain the expansion of international society in more detail and reflect on how to make it more responsive to the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people.