International Society and the Study of Regimes A Reflective Approach

Abstract

Abstract This chapter seeks to place the growth of the undoubtedly US dominated literature on regime theory within the broader tradition of thought on the existence of international society. This tradition was in many ways a distinctively European one whose central expression lay in the emergence of ideas about the role and function of international law. More recently it has come to be associated with the work of such writers as Martin Wight and Hedley Bull. This chapter addresses three questions: First, what does regime theory tell us about co-operation in international life that theories of international society do not? Second, to what extent can ideas about international law and society illuminate some of the weaknesses of regime theory? And third, to what extent, if at all, does this analysis suggest areas for further research?