The Expansion of International Society

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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)

The Expansion of International Society

Name: The Expansion of International Society
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ISBN: 9780198716860

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)

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English

Oxford University Press
20 February 2026

Globalization; Political science & theory; International relations

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.

Edited by: 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)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780198716860
ISBN 10: 0198716869
Pages: 490
Publication Date: 20 February 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

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.