Deconfusing Morgenthau: moral inquiry and classical realism reconsidered

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM BAIN
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Moral Inquiry ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Moral Tradition ◽  
Moral Voice ◽  
Classical Realism

This article explores Jim George's claim that Hans Morgenthau's notion of political realism is founded upon a spectator theory of knowledge and that it discloses no meaningful distinction between theory and practice. An investigation of Morgenthau's understanding of scientific inquiry, the relation of theory and practice, and his views on American foreign policy suggests that both of these claims may be misplaced. Rather Morgenthau's realism is an authentic moral voice in the discourse of world politics which emphasizes the importance of judgment and the need to locate statecraft in historical, social, and political context. It is a realism that is representative of a rich moral tradition, one which orders, arranges, and prioritizes fundamental human values and which is concerned with how these values might be realized. This conclusion not only emancipates a valuable tradition of scholarship, it also raises important question about how we engage and organize the discipline of international relations and it suggests that some critical thinking spaces may provide a rather limited refuge for those wishing to go beyond Morgenthau and realism.

Hans Kelsen's Political Realism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Schuett
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
World Order ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Moral Choice ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Natural Laws ◽  
Illiberal Democracy ◽  
Hans Kelsen ◽  
Classical Realism

What does it mean to be a foreign-policy realist? Why is it important to get Hans Kelsen right? How can open society ideals be reconciled with the tragedies of world politics? It is widely acknowledged that the rules-based international order is under assault by visions of illiberal democracy at home and powerful autocracies abroad. The Schmittians old and new are making a comeback, and neorealists in particular continue to pit realism against liberalism: where there is only power or nothing, all else is scorned as naïve, including Kelsen. The book challenges the neorealist myth of power politics and conventional views of the Austrian-American jurist in international relations theory. Revisiting Kelsen’s life and thought through the prism of classical realism, the supposed Kantian idealist is presented as a calm yet bold, progressive political realist who has continued analytical and normative relevance in the study of politics and world order. The case is made that a synthesis of political realism and progressive policies is possible. No matter what the Schmittians say or do, what is in a liberal democracy’s so-called national interest is not a function of causality, necessity, or any other natural laws of impersonal forces or anarchical structures. Rather, what is willed, or not willed, on any given day in politics and international relations is the product of political imputation, moral choice, and individual and collective human agency.

The Contribution of Nicholas John Spykman to the Study of International Politics

1952 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 382-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar S. Furniss
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Front Page ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Political Realism

Ten years ago Harcourt, Brace and Company published America's Strategy in World Politics. It was written by Nicholas John Spykman, Professor of International Relations at Yale University from 1928 until his death in 1943, and first director of the Institute of International Studies at Yale. Critics recognized that the book was important, but agreed on little else. One reviewer hailed it as “brilliant, incisive, provocative, well-reasoned, well-written, and altogether admirable as an analysis of American foreign policy from a point of view all too long neglected in the United States.” On the other hand, a second reviewer bitterly asked, “What were those eminent scholars at Yale thinking about when they let such an idea loose [that the United States might need German and Japanese power after the war]? … Such guessing and surmising is not objective political science, it is not anything but the expression of mental discomfort that the learned gentleman feels in a world that, despite his own cold-blooded cult of political realism, does not appear to be moving in the direction suggested by his own wishful thinking.” And there was more, much more, both pro and con. Despite a laudatory, front-page review, complete with picture, in the New York Times Book Review, Professor Spykman probably, if the score were totaled, did no better than break even.

(Im)possible universalism: reading human rights in world politics

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 663-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
VÉRONIQUE PIN-FAT
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Large Role ◽  
Universal Human Rights

Tony Evans (ed.), Human Rights Fifty Years On: A Reappraisal (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998)Robin Holt, Wittgenstein, Politics and Human Rights (London: LSE/Routledge, 1997)Peter Van Ness (ed.), Debating Human Rights: Critical Essays from the United States and Asia (London: Routledge, 1999)Questions concerning the linkage, or lack of it, between theory and practice are perennial in International Relations (IR). This is particularly acute in the case of studies of universal human rights in world politics. Problems associated with universal human rights are familiar; what are their foundations?, what are their origins?, do they exist in all cultures?, why, when it comes to implementation, do we see such failure and inconsistency across the globe and the persistence of human wrongs?, why does power seem to play such a large role in stifling ‘progress’? All these questions appear in one form or another in the books under review here and readers will, perhaps, take comfort from their familiarity as old, difficult friends.

scholarly journals Political Realism in International Relations: Classical Realism, Neo-realism, and Neo-Classical Realism

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-600
Author(s):  
Ekaterine Lomia
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
World War ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Basic Approach ◽  
Classical Realism ◽  
Sophisticated Analysis

Realism, also known as political realism, is one of the most dominant theories of international relations. The school of thought in realism was established in the post-World War II era; however, it is widely associated with the ancient Greek studies, particularly, in the works of Thucydides who allows a more sophisticated analysis of the conception of power and its place in the anarchic international system. Unlike idealism and liberalism, which underline the idea of cooperation in international relations, realism stresses a competitive and confrontational side of human nature and argues that in global politics there is no space for morality. Thus, states show constant readiness to obtain power and achieve their political ends. The article aims at studying the basic approach, the theory of realism is based on. The study has been prepared as a result of examining articles and books written by dominant realist scholars who have influential opinions in the field.        

scholarly journals Exeunt Omnes? Survival, Pessimism and Time in the Work of John H. Herz

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Stevens
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Security Dilemma ◽  
Late Modernity ◽  
Human Survival ◽  
Classical Realism ◽  
Intellectual Legacy

John H. Herz (1908-2005) is better known for his theorisation of the security dilemma than for his conviction that human survival is threatened by the conditions of late modernity. This article explores extinction and survival in his work to interrogate his persistent characterisation as an incorrigible pessimist. In his preoccupation with extinction, Herz would seem a first-rank pessimist, but his intellectual commitments belie this easy categorisation. Specifically, his appeals to interdisciplinary ‘survival research’ suggest a qualified pessimism that does not foreclose on the potential of humankind to overcome structural, political and normative obstacles. This is consistent with current understandings of pessimism within the broader realist tradition. Herz expressed an ‘open’ and ‘linear’ temporality that challenges cyclical and linear-progressive temporalities inherent to realism and liberalism, respectively. Herz articulates, therefore, a ‘productive pessimism’ that charts a different path for pessimist thought beyond its pejorative connotations. This article contributes to the literature on classical realism, to a growing interest in Herz’s intellectual legacy, and to the developing appreciation of time and temporality in International Relations theory and practice. It also provides a foundation for rethinking our assumptions about pessimism and international politics.

Wilson and a World Safe for Democracy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Smith
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
World Order ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
World War ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The World

This chapter examines Woodrow Wilson's comprehensive program for world order that came to constitute the foundation of liberal democratic internationalism, also known as Wilsonianism. Wilson's policy, designed “to make the world safe for democracy,” was not a radical departure from traditional American national security policy. His proposals to restructure world politics on the basis of a liberal world order were consistent with basic propositions of past American foreign policy. The chapter first considers the theory and practice underlying Wilsonianism before discussing the dilemma of Wilson's policy in Europe. It also explores the virtues of Wilsonianism for the postwar world, such as its acknowledgment of the fundamental political importance of nationalism. Finally, it emphasizes the resurgence of Wilsonianism in American foreign policy in the aftermath of World War II.

scholarly journals Revisitando os Eixos Fundamentais do Direito Internacional e das Relações Internacionais por meio do Realismo Clássico: Novas Epistemologias e Categorizações

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thales Cavalcanti Castro
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Indiana University ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Classical Realism ◽  
Indiana University Of Pennsylvania

REVISITANDO OS EIXOS FUNDAMENTAIS DO DIREITO INTERNACIONAL E DAS RELAÇÕES INTERNACIONAIS POR MEIO DO REALISMO CLÁSSICO: NOVAS EPISTEMOLOGIAS E CATEGORIZAÇÕES REVISITING THE FUNDAMENTAL AXES OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THROUGH CLASSICAL REALISM: NEW EPISTEMOLOGIES AND CATEGORIZATIONS Thales Cavalcanti Castro* RESUMO: O presente artigo visa a fornecer reflexões críticas e atualizadas sobre a intersecção teórica entre os eixos do Direito Internacional com o realismo político (maquiavélico-hobbesiano) presente nas epistemologias e práxis das Relações Internacionais contemporâneas. Trata-se de um debate interdisciplinar, cuja premissa maior é revelar as possibilidades de encontrar um caminho de síntese (Aufhebung hegeliano) entre ambas as molduras teóricas da visão deôntica do Direito Internacional com a perspectiva ôntica do realismo clássico presente nas Relações Internacionais. A obra clássica do Testamento Política do Cardeal Richelieu foi utilizada como moldura para reforço das reflexões do corte epistêmico realista clássico em Maquiavel. Foram aqui apresentadas linhas gerais para uma revisita histórica e conceitual do realismo político das Relações Internacionais com eixos de comunicabilidade com o Direito Internacional, gerando conclusões, à luz do clássico, O Princípe, de Maquiavel, como formas de aproximação da estrutura legal-normativa internacional mais porosa às dinâmicas da interação entre os povos atualmente. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Fundamentos do Direito Internacional. Realismo Político. Filosofia Política Internacionalista. Interdisciplinaridade. Teoria das Relações Internacionais. ABSTRACT: This article has the purpose to provide critical and updated analysis on the theoretical intersection of the pillars of international law with political realism (within the Machiavellian-Hobbesian perspective) present in current epistemology and practices of contemporary international relations. It is an interdisciplinary debate presented here, whose major premise is to reveal the possibilities of finding a way of synthesis (Hegelian Aufhebung) from both theoretical framework of the deontic view of international law with the ontic perspective of classical realism present in International Relations. The classical opus Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu was used herein as a theoretical framework to reinforce the epistemological breakthrough of classical realism in Machiavelli. This article moreover presented the guidelines for a historical and conceptual revisit of the political realism enshrined in International Relations theoretical approaches with communicability with international law, thus generating conclusions in the light of Machiavelli’s classic opus, The Prince, as a way of approach to an international legal-normative framework more porous to the dynamics of the peoples’ interaction today.  KEYWORDS: International law foundations. Political realism. Political philosophy of International Relations. Interdisciplinarity. International Relations Theory. *  Coordenador da graduação e pós-graduação em Relações Internacionais da FADIC (Faculdade Damas da Instrução Cristã). Doutor em Ciência Política pela Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE). Bacharel e Mestre em Relações Internacionais pela Indiana University of Pennsylvania, EUA. Assessor Internacional da Reitoria da UNICAP (Universidade Católica de Pernambuco).

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