In the process of developing the discipline of international relations, attention has turned to the 'social fact'. This includes the role that cultures play in questions of war and peace and the social structures that have consequences for diplomatic behaviour, such as American 'exceptionalism', or Central Europe's 'weak liberalism'. Interest in the 'social fact' has carried with it renewed interest in the English School, both as a body of theorizing an international society constituted by social practices and as a body of thought that emphasizes the role of ideas and values in diplomatic practices. The English School is particularly known for its attention to ethics and for bringing considerations of right and wrong to bear on questions of human rights, democracy and intervention.

The original English School thinkers were not overly-reflective about their methods, rather assuming they were transparent. This volume seeks to rectify this omission. Its contributors are the major English School theorists writing today, and they have outlined the methods appropriate to an English School understanding of international relations, their analytical referents and their assumptions about how knowledge of the 'social' is gained. They make it clear what is involved in 'an English School approach', specifically at the level of research method, and what such an approach can deliver in the contemporary understanding of international relations.

Introduction: Methods and Methodology in the English School; C.Navari
International Relations as a Craft Discipline; R.Jackson
What the Classical English School was Trying to Explain, and Why its Members Were Not Interested in Causal Explanation; C.Navari
Constructivism and the English School; C.Reus-Smit
History, Theory and Methodological Pluralism in the English School; R.Little
International Society as an Ideal Type; E.Keene
Theorising Order: The Case of Hedley Bull The Anarchical Society; K.J.Holsti
The English School and the Activity of Being an Historian; W.Bain
The English School's Approach to International Law; P.Wilson
Law, Power and the Expansion of International Society; B.A.Roberson
The Limits of Progress: Normative Reasoning in the English School; J.Mayall

CORNELIA NAVARI is Professor of International Affairs at the University of Buckingham, UK. She directed the MA programme in International Studies at the University of Birmingham for many years and is now contributing to the new programme in Global Governance at the University of Buckingham. She is well-known for her advocacy of professional education in international relations. Her research covers the history of thought on international relations in the 20th century and beyond, including thinkers in the English School. Her work on Hobbes and international relations is considered definitive.