INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY – MARTIN WIGHT

This book collects works by the late Professor Martin Wight (1913‑1972), a historian and scholar of international relations. He conducted research on many topics, including British colonial history, European studies, international institutions, and the history and sociology of state systems.

He is best known for his teaching on the political philosophy of international relations at the London School of Economics (1949‑1961) and the University of Sussex (1961‑1972). He is widely regarded as an intellectual ancestor and pathbreaker of the “English School” of international relations, even though the term gained currency nine years after his death. While there is no generally accepted definition of the English School, it is usually understood as an approach to the study of international relations rooted more in historical and humanistic learning than in the social sciences. Wight’s achievements are consistent with this broad definition.

This volume includes works in four categories: (a) traditions of thinking about international relations since the sixteenth century; (b) the causes and functions of war; (c) international and regime legitimacy; and (d) fortune and irony in international politics. In addition to classic essays such as “Why Is There No International Theory?” and “Western Values in International Relations,” which complement his posthumous 1991 book *International Theory: The Three Traditions*, the volume contains previously unpublished works on international legitimacy and the causes of war. Wight’s analysis of legitimacy examines the evolution of thinking from dynastic to popular approaches, while his work on the causes of war builds on Thucydides and Hobbes.

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