The article offers an interpretation of comparative education as an episteme that is entangled with international relations. It does so by seeking to extract past and present forms and patterns of comparative educational thought and action from the three main traditions of international relations, namely: realism, rationalism and revolutionism. It is specifically argued that each of these three traditions offers different understandings of the nature of international society and how its main actors conduct themselves in it. These different understandings of the nature of international politics enable different ways of thinking about, and acting upon, the educational world comparatively. The implications of this interpretation of comparative education for the future are highlighted in the conclusion.