AN APPRAISAL ON HEDLEY BULL'S CONTRIBUTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

An Appraisal on Hedley Bull's contribution to International Relations

An Appraisal on Hedley Bull's contribution to International Relations

Hedley Bull Contribution

Hedley Bull was born in Sydney in 1932 and studied History and Philosophy at the Australian National University. Later, he went for studies in London School of Economics, at Harvard and Princeton. Among the companions he had during his intellectual formation include Henry Kissinger, Thomas C. Schelling, Richard A. Falk and Johan Galtung. In 1965, he appointed director of the Research Unit for Arms Control and Disarmament of the Foreign Office of the British Labor government, which would have a noticeable impact on their reflections. Two years after such distinguished leadership resign to accept a professorship at the Australian National University, a post which he combined with teaching in universities in New Delhi Jawaharlal and the London School of Economics. In 1977, he appointed Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, an institution which would be linked to their premature death (Almond & Gabriel, 1966, p. 869-79).

Hedley Bull is a leader in the field of international relations as well as a contemporary defender Hugo Grotius, whose political thought adapted brilliantly during the Cold War. He defended the study of the history of philosophy and the need for conceptual precision and irreducible elements privileged against the then emerging "science of politics." The distaste for the superficiality of these disciplines at the time led him to argue with Morton Kaplan. He also showed a remarkable interest in the revolts of the third world countries aimed against the West. He flatly denied the spiritual unity of mankind postulated both from Christian ecumenism and the Kantian cosmopolitanism. In addition, Bull is regarded as the great follower of Martin Wight within the call English School of International Relations (Banks & Michael, 1985, p. 7-26).

Despite his distinguished teacher, Bull has criticized for underestimating the influence of economic processes in their studies of international politics, which, however, have had a remarkable acceptance among authors related to political realism. Hedley Bull (10 June 1932-18 May 1985) was a professor of International Relations of the Australian National University, the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford (Ashley & Richard, 1981, p. 204-36).

The Anarchical Society (1977) is his main work: it is widely regarded as a textbook in the field of International Relations and is also considered a key text of the English school of International Relations. In this book, he defends the fact that, despite its archaic character, the international stage is characterized by the formation of a society of states, not just systems of States. States form a system when they have a sufficient degree of interaction, so they "behave - to some extent - as parts of a whole." A system of states can exist without this being a society of states. A society of states is created "when a group of states, conscious of certain common interests and values, form a society in the sense that they ...