The Big Picture as an Approach to the Study of International Relations: Thinking With and Beyond Barry Buzan

Barry Buzan is one of Europe's most prolific scholars of international relations, renowned for his interdisciplinary collaborations and commitment to making complex ideas accessible. This volume features a detailed analysis of his practised 'big picture' approach and its value to the international relations discipline, as well as related social science disciplines. It starts with an explication of the intellectual project of Barry Buzan over his long career, the development of his thinking in relation to the big picture and the style of research he engages in. The contributors then use this as a stepping stone to reflect on the broader value of the big picture approach, taking their point of departure in five scholarly fields: international relations theory, the English School, world history, international security studies and international political economy. In the concluding chapter, Barry Buzan reflects on the undertaking and the path forward.

Rita Floyd is Professor of International Security and Ethics at the University of Birmingham and co-editor-in-chief of International Affairs, a Chatham House journal. Her publications include The Duty to Secure: From Just to Mandatory Securitization (Cambridge University Press, 2024) and The Morality of Security: A Theory of Just Securitization (Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Laust Schouenborg is Associate Professor of International Politics and Director of the Centre for Statecraft and International Order at Roskilde University. His publications include The Scandinavian International Society: Primary Institutions and Binding Forces, 1815-2010 (Routledge, 2012), International Institutions in World History: Divorcing International Relations Theory from the State and Stage Models (Routledge, 2017) and, with Barry Buzan, Global International Society: A New Framework for Analysis (Cambridge University Press, 2018).