The English school's belief that states belong to an international society but will probably never belong to a global community is far too pessimistic.

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The English school's belief that states belong to an international society but will probably never belong to a global community is far too pessimistic.

Before I begin to analyse the question I feel it is important to fully comprehend it's meaning and to see whether it entails any particular arguments. There are two main concepts within the question. The first concept is that of an 'international society' and this concept is associated with the English school theory of international relations. When thinking about the other concept, a global community, cosmopolitanism, idealism and Kantian ideas comes to mind but it is not as clearly associated. The first task is to define an 'international society' from the perspective of the English school.

The concept is sometimes referred to as the 'society of states'. The definition has varied at different points in history when referring to different systems but Hedley Bull of the English school puts the contemporary definition best. Firstly he suggests that an international society cannot be achieved without an international system. An international system is when two or more states have an impact on each other's decisions. This is on a much