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Is contemporary international order truly a secular arrangement? William Bain challenges this narrative by arguing that modern theories of international order reflect ideas that originate in medieval theology.

Order and theology -- Rival conceptions of order : immanent and imposed -- Renaissance, reformation, and the road to Westphalia -- Martin Luther and the theology of the two kingdoms -- Hugo Grotius and the God of international society -- Thomas Hobbes and the divine politics of Anarchy -- Political theology I : system, anarchy, balance of power -- Political theology II : society, law, constitution -- International order beneath an empty sky.

1. The medieval contribution to modern international relations / William Bain -- 2. The medieval and the international : a strange case of mutual neglect / Nicholas Rengger -- 3. Metaphysics and the problem of international order / C.J.C. Pickstock -- 4. Secularism in question : Hugo Grotius's 'impious hypothesis' again / Francis Oakley -- 5. Between false-universalism and radical-particularism : thoughts on Thomas Hobbes and international relations / Joshua Mitchell -- 6. The medieval Roman and canon law origins of international law / Joseph Canning -- 7. Then and now : the medieval conception of just war versus recent portrayals of the just war idea / James Turner Johnson -- 8. Humanitarian intervention in a world of sovereign states : the Grotian dilemma / James Muldoon -- 9. The medieval and early modern legacy of rights : the rights to punish and to property / Camilla Boisen and David Boucher -- 10. International relations and the 'modern' Middle Ages : rival theological theorisations of international order / Adrian Pabst.

This is an accessible new examination of what 'security' means today, contextualizing the term amongst other key ideas, such as the nation state, diplomacy, war and autonomy. By exploring the many differing conceptions of security, this study clearly explains how the idea of security in world affairs can be understood in relation to other ideas and points of view. It shows how, when standing alone, the word 'security' is meaningless, or just an empty term, when divorced from other ideas distinctive to international life. This essential new volume tackles the key questions in the deba.

This innovative study rescues the normative discourse of trusteeship from the obscurity into which it has fallen since decolonization. It traces the development of trusteeship from its emergence out of debates concerning the misrule of the East India Company

Abstract
This article elaborates an account of political theology that is both historical and critical in orientation. Whereas the historical dimension excavates theological antecedents that inform the vocabulary of international relations, the critical dimension illuminates incoherence in accepted ways of thinking and speaking about the subject. The article develops these distinct, though complementary, modes of argument to illustrate what political theology contributes to the study of international relations. Part one situates the historical mode within the broader discourse of political theology, followed in part two by a consideration of the marginal place of political theology in international relations scholarship. Part three re-reads the exception—extraordinary action that contravenes established legal or moral order—to illustrate what is at stake when analogies between divine and human deviate from the theological original. This, in turn, unlocks in part four a critical project that subverts the ubiquitous contrast between irrational (religious) belief and rational (secular) unbelief and the privilege it asserts. Political theology conceived along these lines breaks free of the parochialism of the present by denaturalizing a matrix of international relations knowledge that is anything but natural.

Theology is a neglected resource in international relations scholarship; it is, more often than not, characterised as a threat to political order because it is seen as a cradle of fanaticism and irrationality. Postsecular scholarship challenges this view by exploring the persistence of theological ideas and religious belief in political discourse and practice. Political Theology of International Order is my own contribution to this type of scholarship. This article engages responses from five distinguished scholars. It considers the implications of taking theology seriously when theorising international order; the veracity of narratives that frame the study of international relations; and new directions and possibilities that arise out of the book.

This article elaborates an account of political theology that is both historical and critical in orientation. Whereas the historical dimension excavates theological antecedents that inform the vocabulary of international relations, the critical dimension illuminates incoherence in accepted ways of thinking and speaking about the subject. The article develops these distinct, though complementary, modes of argument to illustrate what political theology contributes to the study of international relations. Part one situates the historical mode within the broader discourse of political theology, followed in part two by a consideration of the marginal place of political theology in international relations scholarship. Part three re-reads the exception—extraordinary action that contravenes established legal or moral order—to illustrate what is at stake when analogies between divine and human deviate from the theological original. This, in turn, unlocks in part four a critical project that subverts the ubiquitous contrast between irrational (religious) belief and rational (secular) unbelief and the privilege it asserts. Political theology conceived along these lines breaks free of the parochialism of the present by denaturalizing a matrix of international relations knowledge that is anything but natural.

This article reflects on themes of continuity and change over the past century of international relations. In 1919 the victors of the First World War endeavoured to remake international relations by abolishing war and erecting institutional structures that were intended to promote a more just world order. The achievements and failures of this project can be discerned in overlapping patterns of continuity and change that portray a world that is at once old and new. The discourse of change tends to dominate thinking about international relations. Technological innovation, globalisation, and human rights, among other factors, cultivate the progressive 'one-worldism' of an interconnected global community of nations and peoples. But, evidence of change notwithstanding, much of contemporary international relations would be intelligible to persons who lived a century ago. International relations is still fundamentally about order and security, power and restraint, and freedom and equality. These patterns provide an important reminder that progress is possible but that international relations involves an open-ended project of continuous renovation and conservation.

Scholars of international relations generally invoke Hobbes as the quintessential theorist of international anarchy. David Armitage challenges this characterisation, arguing that Hobbes is regarded as a foundational figure in international relations theory in spite of as much as because of what he wrote on the subject. Thus, for Armitage, Hobbes is not the theorist of anarchy that he is made out to be. This article agrees with the general thrust of Armitage's critique while maintaining that it is still possible to imagine Hobbes as a theorist of anarchy. Hobbes is a theorist of anarchy, not in a political sense, but in a metaphysical sense. This conception of anarchy is a reflection of a comprehensive theological account of reality that is grounded in an omnipotent God. Any historical inquiry into the foundations of modern international thought must take account of theology, because theology defines the ultimate coordinates of reality in terms of which the concepts of international thought are intelligible. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]