The Iraq War and the English School of Thought: An Analysis

This essay delves into the Iraq War of 2003, examining its complexities within the framework of international relations. It begins by introducing the concept of international society and the English School of Thought, which incorporates elements of both realism and liberalism. The essay then provides a historical overview of the Iraq War, discussing the factors that led to the conflict, including the rise of globalized terrorism, the dominance of the United States, and concerns about nuclear proliferation. The core of the analysis focuses on interpreting the Iraq War through the lens of the English School of Thought, considering its implications for international society, the legitimacy of the intervention, and the role of international law and sovereignty. The essay highlights the differing perspectives on the war, particularly regarding the justification for intervention and the violation of state sovereignty, ultimately aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the war's impact on the global order.

Running head: IRAQ WAR IN INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY
Iraq war in International Society
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
English School of thought in International Relations......................................................................2
Iraq War of 2003..............................................................................................................................5
Analysis of the Iraq War through the lens of the English School of thought..................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References:....................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Hostility and conflict is a common phenomenon to be existing within the broader aspect
of the international relations. The various nation states of the world have the common tendency
to aspire for more power and authority within the international context (Buzan, 2014). In order to
garner such authority and power, the first elements which are required for the increase in such
authority are those of territories and that of resources. This is the main reason for the outbreak of
wars and conflicts among such countries of the world. After the demise of the Soviet Union
towards the end of the twentieth century, the structuring of the world order changed. From a
bipolar world order, the global society moved towards a unipolar system where the United States
of America emerged to be the only dominant hegemonic power to be ruling over the world
affairs (Murray, 2015). Although the countries across the globe had the freedom to take their
own decisions as a result of the inception of the idea of sovereignty, majority of the global
political affairs were decided by the United States of America. This hegemonic power which was
occupied by America was not acceptable by many countries of the world (Devetak, George &
Percy, 2017). Many of them felt that the liberal and democratic ideals that were being advocated
by the state leaders of America were conflicting with their own religious dictates. It was the
conflict in such political and religious ideals that the Iraq War broke out in 2003 (Wilson, 2016).
The purpose of this paper is to understand the issue of this Iraq War of 2003 in the broader
context of the international society. The paper has also attempted to analyze the incident through
the lens of the English School of thought as it exists within the field of international relations.

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English School of thought in International Relations
The international theories attempt to focus or lay emphasis on one single factor of smaller
issues which are taken to the units of analysis. Such units or issues are examined and analyzed
and the character derived from such a study is attributed to the larger realm of the entire globe. In
the present world order, the international theorists are in the search for such indications which
may point to the decline in the importance given to the power and the authority held by the
different nation states of the world (Fawcett, 2016). Such scholars attempt to seek the alterations
in the power structure of the countries from their desire to hold more power and authority to that
of the work done for the progress of the entire human race. However, even in the twenty firs
century, it can be observed that the desire of the states to attain more power has not reduced
(Viotti & Kauppi, 2019). They are still considered to be the main actors within the field of
international relations. Thus, there was a need to get a fresh perspective about the nature of the
states and their form of intercommunication in the international sphere.
In this context, The English School of Thought emerged. The English School is also
known as the society of states approach (Booth & Erskine, 2016). It involves within itself three
different methods which are used for the understanding of how the globe functions or operates.
The English School was mainly designed to include within itself the attributes of the liberalism
and that of realism (Brown, 2017). The main query that was posed by the theorists advocating
this school of thought was that how can an individual incorporate the various cooperative
elements of the international sphere in to the realist conception of the present hostile nature of
the international relations.
The first sphere which can be noticed within international politics is that of the
international system (Hast, 2016). This element was first proposed by that of Hobbes and

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Machiavelli. They opined that the states of the world are mainly associated with each other in the
form of power politics. The realists consider that the process and the structure of international
anarchy is at the focus point of the international relations theory (Jackson, Sørensen & Møller,
2019).
The second sphere of focus is that of the international society (Devetak, George & Percy,
2017). The idea flowed mainly from that of Grotius. He believed that the international society
consist of the institutionalization of the shared identity and interest amongst the countries. The
theory of rationalism aids in the creation and the maintenance of the shared rules, norms and
institutions within the field of international politics (Viotti & Kauppi, 2019). The English School
of Thought lays special focus on the idea of international society.
The third element developed is that of world society (Devetak, George & Percy, 2017).
This idea was first advocated by that of Kant. Kant opines that the non-governmental
organizations, the individuals and the entire global society focuses on the formation of the social
identities. This element lays emphasis on the idea of Revolutionism which brings the state
system in to the lime light of the international theory (Viotti & Kauppi, 2019). Revolutionism
mainly refers to the idea of the Universalist cosmopolitan and that of communism. The English
School of Thought is yet to develop on this idea of world society.
The English School is known to incorporate the postulates belonging to the field of
realism (Jackson, Sørensen & Møller, 2019). In other words, it lays importance on the primacy
of the nation states of the world who are found to be interacting with each other within an
anarchic system. However, the English School attempts to bring about a human element and
analyze them which are found to be emerging from the domestic sphere of activity (Jackson,
Sørensen & Møller, 2019). In this context, it can be seen that the most important element of the

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English School of Thought is that of the international society which operates as a result of the
influence of the international system or realism and the world society or that of revolutionism.
Iraq War of 2003
The war in Iraq which broke out in 2003 occurred as a result of many different factors.
The foreign policy of the United States of America as led by the then President, George Bush,
shaped the course of the war (Pauly, 2017). The war of the United States of America with that of
Iraq in 2003 was explained primarily through the lens of realism, owing to the unipolar structure
of the world order and the anarchy that was involved therein (Dieterich, Hummel & Marschall,
2015). The scholars were of the idea that the state leaders of the United States took a recourse to
offensive realism. Offensive realism states that there is a tendency among the states of the world
to maintain the current status quo of the region by waging wars with each other in order to
establish their dominance.
The need to invade Iraq by the United States of America in 2003 can be understood in the
context of a changing international society (Robinson et al., 2016). The major reasons for such
an attack was the rise in the form of globalized terrorism, the primacy of the United States of
America and the issue of nuclear proliferation. The English School has tried to explain the
implications of the war of Iraq and the consequences of this war on the international society.
The war with Iraq is largely considered to be illegitimate. Many scholars belonging to the
English school were of the idea that the coercive stance of the United States of America to bring
about a regime change within the country of Iraq was quite unnecessary (Jackson, Sørensen &
Møller, 2019). As a result of this, the intervention was considered to be illegitimate within the
field of a pluralist international society. This illegitimacy was further strengthened by the fact

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that no weapons of mass destruction was found within Iraq as it was claimed by the United
States of America. The American leaders launched this pre-emptive attack on the grounds that
Iraq was on the path to create more chaos in the world and it was violating the human rights of
its own citizens (Robinson et al., 2016). However, during the time of the attack, no such
humanitarian atrocities were to be found within Iraq.
The scholars of the English School tried to understand the origin of the war. Dunne was
of the idea the unilateralism of the United States of America within Iraq was an effect of the
crisis which was prevalent in the international society and its prevailing dysfunction. The
Westphalian pluralist system and its tendency of non-intervention is found to be contradictory
with the old customs and traditions (Jackson, Sørensen & Møller, 2019). International law
initially intended to pose certain restrictions on the sovereignty of the countries. However, with
the development of time, such international law sought the reinforcement of the national
sovereignty of the countries. As a result of this, there is a perceivable tension which can be
noticed within the entire gamut of such international law. Within the present contemporary
international society, the debates surrounding the issues of humanitarian ad that of the legitimacy
of the democratic principles are found to be contradictory to the issues of non-intervention and
that of pluralism (Jackson, Sørensen & Møller, 2019). Vattel was of the idea that the sovereignty
of the states should not be violated under any circumstances even though it may be contradictory
to that of justice, as it might lead to the origin of zealotry. However, in this context, Vattel was of
the idea that if the sovereign head of a country is found to break its own rules and regulations
which leads to economic and political disability within the country, then the population of that
nation state have the power to legally resist the activities of the sovereign and invite foreign
countries to intervene and save them. This reasoning was used by the state leaders of the United

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States to launch a pre-emptive attack on Iraq. However, the advocators of the English School
was of the idea that the war on Iraq was unjustified as the citizens were not facing any crisis as
such. The sovereign of the state was not at fault for the attack of 2001 (Robinson et al., 2016).
Rather, it was the malicious activity of the members of the transnational non-state terrorist group
for which the entire world community had to suffer. In this context, the English School opined
that there is a necessity to maintain global peace by ensuring the harmonious activity of the states
of the world as they are dependent upon each other.
Analysis of the Iraq War through the lens of the English School of thought
A new perspective has emerged in the recent global system with regards to the English
School of Thought. It is important to analyze the foreign policy of the United States of America
through the lens of international societal frame work as espoused by that of Hedley Bull
(Robinson et al., 2016). The foreign policies of this country have been primarily examined
through the lens of realism and that of neo-liberalism. However, the English School sought to
consider the implications of such policies on the wider frame work of the entire international
society and hence, the need to understand the Iraq War through this lens (Cuhadar et al., 2017).
Hedley Bull, in his book titled “The Anarchical Society” stated that there is a need to
understand the international reality in a broader framework and not only through the narrow
conservative lens of realism. The present world order has been structured along the lines of a
“society of states” (Conte, 2017). This points to the fact that within the contemporary global
society, the states are aware about the existence of certain norms and interests which are mutual t
each other. This is widely different from the prevailing structure of the earlier days where each
nation state was only concerned with the fulfillment of their own national interests and
objectives. In the present times, the states are found to be interdependent on each other for the

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achievement of their own national objectives. As a consequence of this, the states have
developed a common general set of rules and regulations which guide and formulate their
dealings with one another. One of the major goals which is shared within such a society of states
is that of preserving the contemporary existing system and ensuring the maintenance of the
independence of the states of the world (Moens, 2017). For the achievement of such goals, the
primary goal is the maintenance of peace for which there is a need to limit the violence and
hostility which leads to the anarchy inherent within the very nature of the states. In this respect, it
can be seen that the basic objective of the states is the preservation of the goals so that the
international order is maintained. In this respect, there is a difference between the neo-realist
approach and the English School of Thought. The neo-realist approach states that international
order is a natural consequence of the institution of the various balancing mechanisms (Buzan &
Gonzalez-Pelaez, 2015). On the other hand, the English School propounds that there is a
necessity of the active participation of the states to maintain such an international order and the
balancing mechanisms.
However, in the opinion of Hedley Bull, this structure of the society of the states faced a
continuing challenge, which turned more severe after September 2001. The primary challenge
that was posed was to the identity of the states as the main actors within the international sphere
(Murray, 2015). This is due to the reason that globalization has strictly undermined the element
of sovereignty of the various nation states and their control over the activities which occurred
within their own territorial boundaries. Furthermore, another emerging challenge that was
noticed was in the field of politics. For so long, the main threat to the existence of a state was
with regards to their economic resources (Messerschmidt, 2015). However, the attack on the
hegemon of the world on their political arena, had led to the rise in the belief that the security

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threats are no longer simply statist in nature. Such security threats have now started to emerge
from the transnational activity and functioning of the various non-state terrorist groupings of the
world who operate from within the territorial boundary of such nation states of the world (Göl,
2015).
The advocators of the English School of Thought are wary about the unipolar structure of
the world. They are of the idea that the prevalence of a single predominating state or a hegemon
is considered to be a menace to the existence of the other nation states of the world (Schwartz,
2016). The hegemon have the power to punish any other state of the world who break the rules
and regulations, thereby adversely affecting the maintenance of the status quo. In this regard, it
can be seen that the existence of a hegemonic power is against the advocation of the English
School of Thought and its need to form a society of states (Dodge, 2017). They state that the
countries have their own internal system of checks and balances on the power and authority
exercised by their own people. This has created the need to change the present status quo by the
other states of the world who do not exercise the requisite power and authority as done by the
hegemonic state of the United States (Beyer, 2016).
The attack on the United States of American September 2001 can be attributed to this
specific orientation of the world order. The transnational non-state terrorist groupings of the
world have their own agenda and objectives which they try to achieve. This is usually done with
the aid of hostility and that of violence that goes against the need to maintain the status quo of
the world (Norrlof, 2014). However, the United States of America retaliated to this attack by
launching a pre-emptive war on Iraq in 2003. This attack of the United States, the leading
hegemon of the world, was criticized and condemned by many nation states of the world.

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However, none of them had the courage to stop the United States in its act of vengeance and they
decided to go ahead with the attack on Iraq.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be observed that the Iraq war of 2003 has been analyzed by the
various scholars of the world through different lenses. While one category of theorists stated that
the war was necessary as a result of the existence of a dominating hegemon in the world, the
scholars advocating the English School of Thought, stated that the war was illegitimate in
orientation. The world was largely organized as a unipolar after the demise of the Soviet Union.
The liberal ideology that was propended by the state leaders of the United State of America
gained wide spread favor around the world as a result of the ideas of democracy and sovereignty.
The idea about the society of states developed whereby the nation states were found to be
interdependent on each other as a consequence of the achievement of their common goal. In the
contemporary world order, the United States of America share a strategic relationship with that
of Iraq. This strategic relationship is needed by America as it allows them to involve themselves
within the military and the political field of the region of Middle East. Middle East has always
occupied a center stage for the United States because of the richness in natural resources. In
return of access to such rich resources, the United States of America provide security to the Iraqi
forces by giving them financial assistance of millions of dollars. They also provide Iraq with
military aid in the form of advanced military and that of efficient training regime. Thus, the
states are found to be diplomatically dependent on each other and the activities of one have the
potential to impact the functioning of the other countries. In this regard, the scholars of the
English School believe that there is a need to maintain the status quo of the international order
through the mechanisms of peace and harmony.

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