Commitments and the Problem of Order in International Relations

Abstract

States need order in their environment, in their relations with each other, just as they need it internally. Generally, they know that they need international order and they therefore want it and seek it. The hedging of this statement is required by the recognition that states frequently give priority to values other than and even opposed to order, that they sometimes find exploitable advantage in disorder, and that their concern about order usually has a regional rather than a global focus. Despite these qualifications, it is broadly true that the problem of external order is treated by statesmen as a major concern.