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Comment on this article   The purpose of this essay is to discuss how the study of Historical Sociology (HS) has contributed to and has influenced the study of International Relations (IR). To this end, the essay examines primarily how the work of historical sociologists has been understood and employed by IR scholars and focuses on their attempts to advance theoretical frameworks for studying international relations that are based on the use of historical sociology. Due to the existence of a vast bibliography on this subject and in conjunction with the space limit of this essay, it is impossible for the present literature review to cover all the available resources. However, the essay seeks to provide the reader with a detailed discussion of the subject matter, as well as a comprehensive bibliography. The most comprehensive discussion to date about the relationship between HS and IR can be found in Hobden's work (1998) , as well as the volume edited by Hobden and Hobson (2002) . The origins of HS are traced back to the Enlightenment and the belief that it was possible to improve the human condition by unmaking and remaking human institutions. During the eighteenth century, there were attempts to compare societies and understand why some societies were more successful than others ( Gellner 1988 ). Although statesmen focused on the relative military strength of rival states, ... log in or subscribe to read full text