War and the ‘brotherhood of hooliganism’

Abstract

This chapter embraces the notion of international political theory as ‘Applied Political Philosophy’, and recognises Chris Brown’s special contribution to it. Brown’s most recent book—International Society, Global Polity-is then used as a provocation to examine the ‘International Society’ mindset on the critical problematique of war. The chapter confronts, in particular, Brown’s largely uncritical view of Hedley Bull’s conception of war as an institution of the ‘society of states’, and his positive endorsement of Michael Walzer’s development of the ‘Just War’ tradition. Underlying the chapter is a critique of an international political theory calculated to legitimate a delusional common sense when applied to the challenges confronting human society globally in an era of world-historical crisis.