THE IDEA OF INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM - THEORY MEETS HISTORY

This article uses a long view of history to examine structural realist ideas about international system. It has three themes: (1) that insuf ficient thought has been given to defining the necessary and sufficien t conditions for saying that an international system exists; (2) that such conceptions of international system as we do have are overwhelmin gly biased by the structural characteristics of the European experienc e; and (3) that international relations theory and history need each o ther. History provides a wealth of significant challenges to prevailin g orthodoxies in international relations theory, and structural realis t theory can be used as an interesting approach to formulating grand h istory.