The English and Chinese Schools of International Relations: Comparisons and Lessons

Abstract

This article compares the academic histories of the so-called ‘Chinese School’ and the English School in the six dimensions of origin, founders, and organization; naming; context; aims/intentions; theory sources; and historical projects. The English School is mature enough to present fairly clear contents for each section, but as the Chinese School is much newer and still hotly contested as a concept, many things about it are uncertain and controversial; it lacks a single defining concept or frame. The opportunity at hand, therefore, is to apply the experience of the English School to the formative process of a Chinese School or schools, at the same time making clear the considerable differences that time, place and circumstance make to the two projects. The article concludes by looking at possible lessons for the development of International Relations (IR) theory in China, both from what the English School has accomplished and for which it has been criticized. Along the way we provide a bibliographical