«The Children of Darkness» and «International Community»: Colonial Policy from the Perspective of the English School of International Relations

Abstract

The article is devoted to the evaluation of the role of colonial policy in the works of historians of the English School of international relations. The aim of the article is to highlight the main stages in the study of colonial problems in the concept of international society and to show the specifics of the evaluation of colonialism in the historiographic aspect. The sources of the work were texts of leading representatives of this scientific community. The historiographical analysis shows that there are three stages in the study of colonial issues in the English School of international relations. They reflect both the processes of historical development of Great Britain in the second half of the 20th century, and the internal line of evolution of the school concept. At the first stage (1950-1970), the colonial problem did not have an independent significance for the analysis of international relations. The second stage (1980-1990) is characterized by the recognition of colonial policy as an institution for the development of international society in history, although it is evaluated inconsistently. The third stage is modern and it shows the important role of the former colonies in the structure of modern international society. The article analyzes the key arguments in assessing the role of colonies for each stage based on the work of leading representatives of the community. The main conclusion of the article is that the ability to change attitudes to colonialism in the analysis of international society explains the growing interest in the concept of school in modern Asian countries.).