Regional Security Community in International Society: An English School Perspective

One of thoroughly-welcomed concepts in the literature of international relations and regional studies is the regional security community, refering to a group composed of sovereign states in a wide geographic area, in which war among them is eliminated. Thus, different regions can be considered in one of two situations of either formation or lack of it, meaning that in some regions such as Western Europe and North America, a regional security community has been formed, while in some other regions such as South Asia and West Asia and North Africa, it has not been formed, and there is no clear prospect of its formation in the future - at least in the short term. Theoretical question seems to be asked: "Why does a regional security community form in some regions and does not it emerge in some other regions?" collecting data in the library method and searching the Internet for relevant basic texts in the literature of regional studies and international relations, and using qualitative content analysis, this article provides an appropriare explanatory mode. In doing so, finding is that the functioning of the institutions of the global international society affects the regional level in such a way that it causes a regional security community to form in some areas and not in some areas.

Introduction

"Regional Security Community" as a broadly-welcomed concept in the literature of International Relations and Regional Studies, by definition, is considered a group of sovereign states in a wide geographic area, where the possibility of war among them is eliminated. different regions of the world can be considered in terms of formation/lack of regional security community, meaning that in some regions such as Western Europe and North America, a regional security community has been formed, while in some regions such as South and West Asia, such a community still has not been formed. Given such a different empirical history, this theoretical question seems to be posed that "why is a regional security community formed in some regions of the world and not in some other regions?"
2- Theoretical framework
In answering this question, this article tries to re-formulate the concept of regional security community, dealing with the field of Regional Studies, in the context of International Relations and to contribute conceptually to it.
In this framework, drawing on the English School, the international society is considered as the international context of any "regional security community". By introducing the concept of international society, the English school tries to emphasize order as its most important feature. Order in the international society is established in two distinct ways: first, through the realization of the goals of the international society and second, by the promotion of its rules. From the point of view of the English school, the international institutions establish and perpetuate order in the international society. In fact, it is the international institution that realizes the "goals" of the international society and advance its "rules".
 In this article, Hedley Bull's conception is used as a criterion; Hadley Bull considers "balance of power, diplomacy, war, management of great powers and international law" as five institutions that create order in international society. The way international institutions play a role causes the formation/lack of a regional security community.
However, whether and how international institutions play a role is determined by their order-creating function in advancing the goals/rules of the international society at the regional level. In this framework, the success of international institutions in advancing the goals/rules of the international society at the regional level can be called "the good-functioning of the international institutions", and its failure can be called "the mal-functioning of the international institutions".
3- Methodology
On this basis, there are two significant theoretical propositions: If the institutions operating in the international society advance the goals/rules of the international society at the regional level, a regional security community will be formed; If the institutions operating in the international society do not advance the goals/rules of the international society at the regional level, a regional security community will not be formed.
In this article, an attempt is made to identify the relationship between two analytical categories, and as a result, the theoretical model that can be proposed will inevitably be a kind of explanatory model. In this framework, in the light of what was found in the analysis of the security community and its international context, the functional explanation is used. In the functional explanation, the existence of the feature of the regional security community is explained by the function/usefulness that is the reason for its existence. To put it better, in this explanation, the explainer explains the explained in the terms of its useful function. This kind of explanation considers the human field as an interconnected whole, which in some ways is like an organ. Thus, the functional explanation consists of recognizing the benefit of each component for the whole and the need it solves.
4- Discussion
Using the functional explanation method, and reformulating Hadley Bull's conception, it can be discussed about the role of each of the institutions operating in the international society in the formation/lack of a regional security community:
 - Since the existence of local power balances helps to maintain the independence of the states against a dominant local power [or powers], if the local power balance works at the regional level, a regional security community will be formed in that region. Given that the international society itself requires war as a tool to strengthen international law, maintain the balance of power and advance some fair changes, if war can resolve the fundamental differences between the states located in the region of the international society in such a way that the balance of power is maintained, international law is strengthened, and just changes are made, a regional security community will be formed in that region.
 - Given that international law expresses the basic rules of coexistence between states and other actors in the international society, and in this regard, it considers states to be its only its subjects, if the sovereign states located in the same region of the society is treated not as an object of international law but as its subject, a regional security community will be formed in that region.
 - Considering that establishing communication between the political leaders of states and other actors, negotiating to advance the agreement between states, collecting and evaluating information about foreign countries and symbolizing the life of the society of states based on the efforts of states to mutual recognition of sovereignty, equality and independence, if there is a central position for the sovereign states located in a region in the diplomatic arena, a regional security community is formed in that region.
- Considering that the great powers, through mechanisms such as the unilateral use of their local superiority and respecting each other's spheres of influence, try in a concerted manner to maintain their superiority in relation to other members of the international society, If the great powers can manage the challenges in a region of the international society by advancing their common interests in the international society, a regional security community will be formed in that region.
5- Conclusion and Suggestions
In this article, an attempt was made to present a theoretical model, an understandable and appropriate explanation about the formation/lack of a regional security community in regional international societies in the context of the global international society, so that it can be applied to many cases as possible and propose a different look at the current developments in different regions of the world.
In doing so, it was argued that the writings of scholars about the regional security community have actually conceptualized it in the international vacuum rather than international context. Therefore, drawing on the concept of international society and pointing out the central role of international institutions in it, in the light of the English School, an attempt was made to present a theoretical model about the formation/lack of a regional security community in the global international society.