the point of critical international theory's various sociological analyses is to illuminate how alrcady existing social struggles might lead to deci of global political life. This rmatious in the normativc bases sive transfo has prompted Linklater(2002a) uo underrakc what he calls a"sociology of states systerns', More spocifically, Linklater wishes to compare states systems across timc the basis of how they deal with harm.