Rebooting Global International Society

"This is an ambitious volume of essays that addresses how change is enabled and produced by the institutions of global international society. In their quest, contributors intelligently blend classical and new English School writings with constructivist insights. The result is a thoroughly engaging and innovative book that is likely to stimulate a new wave of theorizing change in the global order."

-Tim Dunne, Provost at the University of Surrey, UK, and Emeritus Professor at The University of Queensland, Australia

"One of Hedley Bull's many achievements was to harness the intellectual resources of the concept of fundamental institutions to give, in his day, a superior account of international order. Today, Flockhart, Paikin and their collaborators revisit order in contemporary global international society and the burning questions of the 'what', 'why' and 'how' of change in this society. It is a rich contribution to the International Relations discipline's attempt to understand order."

-Laust Schouenborg, Associate Professor of International Politics, Roskilde University, Denmark

"Flockhart and Paikin manage to shine light from several angles on the idea of an evolving and adapting global international society. Using the key themes of change, contestation and resilience, they combine traditional thinking about international society's institutions with a broader view of the mechanisms of adaptation in international order. The result is an inspiring and fascinating read."

This book asks if it is time to "reboot" the fundamental institutions of global international society. The volume revisits Hedley Bull's seminal contribution The Anarchical Society by exploring the interconnected nature of change, contestation and resilience for maintaining order in today's uncertain and complex environment. The volume adds to Bull's theorizing by recognizing that order demands change, that contestation should be welcomed, and that resilience is anchored in local and agent-led forms of ordering.

Trine Flockhart is Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern Denmark.

Zachary Paikin is a Researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, Belgium.