ABSTRACT
Prescriptively, Bull neither aspires to value-freedom like Waltz, nor is he concerned to instruct decision-makers in the policy requirements of the national interest, like Morgenthau. Instead, by explicating the theory and practice of international society, Bull
argues that maintaining international order depends on the ability and willingness of states, particularly the great powers, to recognize and act upon their shared interests in upholding and extending the fragile complex of rules and practices, or ‘institutions’, on which order rests. In turn, order provides a necessary framework within which broader questions of morality and justice may be raised and dealt with in an incremental manner. However, towards the end of his life, Bull became increasingly disenchanted with the United States and the Soviet Union, dubbing them the ‘great irresponsibles’.3
