British International Political Economy is a label attached by some (most notably Ben Cohen) to a particular approach to international political economy (IPE), an approach which increases the breadth of choices about what IPE really involves.
Cohen's stated purpose was to create a dialogue between the camps with a view to bridging the intellectual divide.
It has been argued that it is Cohen's characterization of the British IPE that has provoked the biggest criticisms.
It deals not with how states might best manage trade policy or monetary policy (given the existing conditions) but rather, with "the stresses and conflicts within the whole complex of societies and states that could lead to a transformation of existing structures in directions that might be either disastrously divisive and conflictual or, alternatively, more equitable and more peaceful".
[3] To address these really big questions, a wide range of factors should be taken into account: indeed anything that might influence people and their political structures.