ABSTRACT
Hedley Bull frequently used the term ‘classical’ in his own lectures and writings. The term, he said, did not refer to a particular period but should rather be understood in the sense proposed by Matthew Arnold, namely the degree to which a work provided ‘most excellent exposition’ of a particular issue or of an enduring question. 1 The status of The Anarchical Society as a classic text in this sense is clear. It provides the most systematic and powerful exposition of the view that together states form an international society, and it develops this idea as a powerful vantage point from which to analyse and assess the possibilities of order in world politics. At the core of the book is the question: to what extent does the inherited political framework provided by the society of sovereign states continue to provide an adequate basis for order? The Anarchical Society does not seek to provide a purely descriptive or narrative account of international events or developments, nor is it directly concerned with the explanation of international relations. Rather, it provides an interpretation of how international relations have changed and how those changes should be evaluated from the perspective of a particular set of values, above all the pursuit of order. 2
