History and International Relations

Abstract This book collects works by the late Professor Martin Wight (1913–1972), a historian and scholar of international relations. Wight conducted research on many topics, including British colonial history, European studies, international institutions, and the history of states-systems. He is nonetheless best known for his lectures about 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, although this term only gained currency nine years after his death. The “English School” is usually construed as signifying an approach to the study of international relations more rooted in historical and humanistic learning than in the social sciences. This volume encompasses works in four categories: (a) standards of excellence in scholarship about history and international relations; (b) European integration efforts since 1945; (c) British policy in the Middle East, notably in relation to the 1956 Suez crisis; and (d) European politics in the interwar period leading up to 1939. This last category features four chapters by Wight from the noteworthy Chatham House collection sponsored by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, The World in March 1939. The chapters on Germany and Eastern Europe stand out as exceptionally thorough and discerning, owing in part to their reliance on a wealth of primary and secondary sources. This collection includes reviews of works by specific historians and throws light on the value of historical studies for analyses of international relations.