Headley Bull worked on the questions of the political system and state organization. He dedicated a number of works to this theme and one of them is "The Anarchical Society" that was first published in 1977. The title describes the modern society which is anarchical: each state provides rules and duties for a certain group of people in its borders and there is no common authorial power to unite these states. These ideas are not very new they take place in neo-liberalism, but Headly Bull analyzes them much deeper and from his own point of view. The book consists of three parts: the first gives basic knowledge about the nature of order in politics, the second deals with the order in the contemporary world and the third suggests a new kind of world organization for the more productive activity of our economical and political systems.
First part that is called "The Nature of Order in World Politics " deals with the understanding of the world "order". Bull gives definition as a general concept and according to the international sphere. He gives distinctions between international system and international society. A system is based on the states that just contact and co-operate with each other but each state has its own rules and doesn't depend on others. An international society "shares a set of rules and institutions" (Bull, 13). The modern society is anarchical and there is no dominant power over all the states but states try to have some common rules and institutions., the modern society is not an international society, of course, but it's moving in this direction.
In the second part "Examining Order in the Contemporary International System" Bull doesn't deviate from his main theme and gives in-depth analysis of common rules and institutions in the states that approximate modern society to the alternative one. By such institutions he means diplomacy, war, the balance of the power, international law and others.
The balance of power's function is to conserve the system of the state. The example of perfect balance of power existed in Italy in the 15th century, in the 18th and 19th centuries it shared a common culture in Europe. Now all these former principles don't work although these create perfect conditions for the existence of the international balance of power.
We should thank the appearance of the foundations of the international laws and principles of Western Christendom. We have all the possibilities to develop this institution. "States obey international law in part because of habit or inertia; they are, as it were, programmed to operate within the framework of established principles" (Bull, 133).
When states were first given the right to wage the war, its main aim was to get rid of violence and cruelty of the medieval society. In reality these aims can't be reached but Bull insists on the necessity of the war. He states that society can't exist without the war if we want to form a strong society. He thinks that if there had been war between the USA and the USSR, it would have been war for their security. He denies thoughts about ideological or political reasons of the war between these countries.
The last third part "Alternative Paths to World Order" is aimed to prove the existence of the international society today. In this chapter he also gives some advice of its improvement and total realization. This part is logically connected with the first one, as it repeats and analyzes deeply main points of the first part, makes conclusions and suggests ways of further development.
Bull claims that rights and liberties of the individuality will change if the international system completely transforms into the international society. The main elite's purpose and aim is forming the common global culture for all people. He states that smaller and less developed states support the idea of international society as they are always under the threat of large countries' invasion. So international society, "this now so delicate plant, will survive and grow" (Bull, 282).
Bull gives ideas of the existence of the order in the society, which would exist without any rules but based on conditioning. Justice in whole should be guided by the individual rights and freedoms. He also gives his point of view on the modern historical situation in the world. For example, he criticizes the current United Nations Charter that puts international order on the higher level than human rights. Bull's theory of the international society is interesting and original. It takes meritorious place among international theories and even shows the evolution of these theories. On the other hand his work has some contradictions and I think that not all aspects of the social development are covered.
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