It is kind to be cruel: the humanity of American Realism

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Desch
Keyword(s):  
International System ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Carl Schmitt ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
State Action ◽  
Ethical Norms ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
Sceptical View

‘No one loves a political realist’, Robert Gilpin once lamented. A major reason for this hostility towards realism is its sceptical view of the role of ethical norms (principled beliefs about state action) in international relations. Some critics dislike realism because they think it leads to an immoral international order. Thucydides' famous adage that the ‘strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must’ is widely interpreted as evidence that one of realism's founding fathers was an advocate of an immoral approach to statecraft. Niccoló Machiavelli's well-known advice to his Prince that it is politics that determines ethics, not vice versa, reinforces these widely-held views of realism's amorality. The fact that modern realism has been influenced by unsavoury individuals like the German theorist Carl Schmitt, whose indisputable intellectual brilliance was tainted by his overly close association with the Third Reich, leads many to see a continuing link between realpolitik and evil in the international system. Thus, Richard Ashley spoke for many when he concluded that

The role of psychopharmacology in the medical abuses of the Third Reich: From euthanasia programmes to human experimentation

2008 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. 388-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco López-Muñoz ◽  
Cecilio Alamo ◽  
Pilar García-García ◽  
Juan D. Molina ◽  
Gabriel Rubio
Keyword(s):  
Third Reich ◽  
Human Experimentation ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Third Reich

Unresolved Questions of German Medicine and Medical History in the Past and Present

1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H. Kater
Keyword(s):  
Significant Influence ◽  
Weimar Republic ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Second Empire ◽  
Sociology Of Medicine ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
Victim Status ◽  
The Third Reich

While in recent years a great deal has been written to clarify Germany's medical past, the picture is not yet complete in several important respects. In the realm of the sociology of medicine, for example, we still do not know enough about physicianpatient relationships from, say, the founding of the Second Empire to the present. On the assumption, based on the meager evidence available, that this relationship had an authoritarian structure from the physician on downward, did it have anything to do with the shape of German medicine in the Weimar Republic and, later, the Third Reich? Another relative unknown is the role of Jews in the development of medicine as a profession in Germany. Surely volumes could be written on the significant influence Jews have exerted on medicine in its post-Wilhelmian stages, as well as the irreversible victim status Jewish doctors were forced to assume after Hitler's ascension to power

Il rumore delle onde

2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-86
Author(s):  
Camilla Tenaglia
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Neutral Position ◽  
Holy See ◽  
Radio Broadcasting ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
The Third Reich

Abstract This essay addresses the relations between Pius XII and Germany at the beginning of his pontificate through the role of Vatican Media, especially Vatican Radio. During the interwar period, the Vatican media system (media ensemble) underwent major transformations, including the creation of a radio broadcasting station in 1931. Pacelli was one of the main agents of these improvements: as Secretary of State supporting Guglielmo Marconi’s project, as Pope through his extensive use of the mass media at his disposal, from radio to cinema. At the end of the 30s the difficult diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Third Reich also had an impact on mass media, as shown by the election of Pacelli in March 1939. The role of Vatican Radio in Vatican diplomacy towards Nazi Germany was already clear during the events surrounding the Anschluss in 1938 and it became a tool for unofficial communication to convey more explicit stances on the regime during World War II. The same strategy was employed during the Option in Südtirol in 1939, when Catholics were able to deliver anti-Nazi propaganda thanks in part to radio in the attempt to avoid the voluntary resettlement of German-speaking Italian citizens from the area. The Holy See maintained a neutral position throughout the events, but at the same time Vatican Radio broadcast programmes in German about the condition of the Catholic Church under the Nazi regime. These broadcasts supported the efforts especially of the Archbishop of Trento Celestino Endrici and his clergy, who opposed the resettlement. Once again Vatican Radio proved a crucial tool for conveying unofficial communications while maintaining the neutral stance typical of the Holy See‘s foreign policy.

Carpatho-Ukraine’s defeat as a precursor of WWII

Rusin ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 201-222
Author(s):  
A.I. Kudriachenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
International Context ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Territorial Claims ◽  
The Third Reich

The paper analyzes the course of events and the international context of Сarpatho- Ukrainian state’s rise and defeat in terms of role and impact of the leading European actors at the end of the 1930’s. Based on an in-depth study of the wide range of literature, documents and relevant archives, the author highlights the role of Carpatho-Ukraine, which for a short period happened to be at the epicenter of the geopolitical interests of the states whose actions or inaction fueled the warmongers. The revival and strengthening of a number of European countries at that historical period deteriorized international relations. The erosion of the Versailles-Washington bases intensified the contradictions in the foreign policy between the victorious and vanquished states. The defeated countries reinforced their positions, since the victors, who were expanding their military might at the expense of Czechoslovak Republic, including Transcarpathia, were becoming more submissive in accommodating territorial claims. This situation largely updated the approaches to the Ukrainian question. The variability of the ways to solve it largely depended on the situational decisions of the Third Reich political leadership.

Settling Scores: German Music, Denazification, and the Americans, 1945-1953. By David Monod. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2005. Pp. xiv+325. $45.00. ISBN 0-8078-2944-7.

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 350-352
Author(s):  
Pamela M. Potter
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
American Military ◽  
Chapel Hill ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Research Interviews ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Military

The impetus among Germany's cultural elite to mark the end of World War II as a “zero hour” has been analyzed mainly as a German phenomenon, with considerably less attention to the role of the occupying forces in fostering that mentality. Settling Scores offers a long-awaited analysis of the American Military Government's precarious navigation in the music world, one of the most sensitive cultural areas for both the conquerors and the conquered. Most histories of twentieth-century German music and culture suffer from a basic misunderstanding of this tumultuous time and uncritically accept many of the prejudices it engendered. As this study demonstrates, the notion of a musical “zero hour” is one such misconception, for the imperfect projects of denazification and reeducation left the musical world of the post-war period largely indistinguishable from its pre-war existence. Based on thorough archival research, interviews with eyewitnesses, and a wide range of literature, this highly readable and engaging history reveals in detail the successes and failures of the Military Government's ambitious agenda to root out the musical “Führers” of the Third Reich and to transform music from a tool of nationalist aggression to one of democratic tolerance.

Transportation and Rearmament in the Third Reich

1973 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 389-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Overy
Keyword(s):  
Service Industry ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Home Front ◽  
Total War ◽  
Economic Framework ◽  
Direct Preparation ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Third Reich

The role of rearmament within the economic framework has become a theme of recurring interest in twentieth century history. During the century, however, the scope of the problem has broadened considerably, so that historians no longer talk of rearmament as merely the direct preparation of a nation's armed forces with the means of waging war. Instead the idea of‘ total war’ introduces a new dimension, indirect or economic rearmament. This second dimension involves a much broader interpretation of the political disposition of individual countries at different times and under rapidly changing circumstances, as well as an understanding of the quality of service, industry or institution that would materially contribute to the effective waging of war on the home front as well. The danger of this sort of interpretation lies in the fact that it only appears to be necessary to locate the will to war in order to understand economic or social processes of a much more sophisticated and diverse nature.

Politics and Inequality in Latin America

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (04) ◽  
pp. 651-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyne Huber
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
International System ◽  
State Action ◽  
Land Distribution ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Structural Roots ◽  
Latin American Countries

Our symposium offers a variety of perspectives, such as on self-perpetuation of inequality in the international system, or on the consequences of inequality for economic growth or for social and political conflicts. This contribution discusses the determinants of domestic policy choices that affect inequality and the consequences of these policy choices. The empirical focus is on Latin American countries, which collectively are characterized by the highest regional levels of inequality in the world, but individually show considerable variation. Different analyses have emphasized different causes of income inequality and of the variation in inequality, such as historical structural roots in land distribution and natural-resource endowments, geography, ethnic divisions, the economic context, demographics, and state action or lack thereof. The role of the state has not received much systematic attention until rather recently, though, despite its essential role in the allocation of resources.

scholarly journals Make comedy matter: Ernst Cassirer on the politics and morality of humor

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 162
Author(s):  
Jennifer Marra
Keyword(s):  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Ernst Cassirer ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The Us ◽  
Political Myth ◽  
The Status ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
The Third Reich

Many of Ernst Cassirer’s later works are concerned with the dangers of political myth. His analysis speaks at length about the role of philosophy during the rise of the Third Reich, and Cassirer argues that philosophers failed to combat the dominant ideology. Today, philosophers struggle to explain their relevance to greater public and governmental powers that see no intrinsic value. Given the current political situation in the US, we find ourselves at a crossroads as philosophers. We can either retreat and remain within the comforts of academia, or we can take up arms against dangerous and divisive political forces. If we take Cassirer’s prescriptions seriously, we must choose the latter. Fortunately, philosophy has not disappeared from public consciousness completely. An emerging theme in contemporary cultural studies is the exploration of connections between humour and philosophy. I argue we ought to take advantage of the status of the comedian as public philosopher, and for philosophers to take seriously the political power of comedians. To do this responsibly, I analyse a portion of Cassirer’s work that has been widely ignored in scholarship – his understanding of the politics and morality of humour. By analysing these passages in relation to Cassirer’s later works, we are given the tools to understand the power of humour in political discourse, as well as the responsibility of that power. I argue that “joking responsibly”, for Cassirer, means to reveal the motives and values which underlie sophistry, particularly the sort which lends itself to political manipulation.

scholarly journals The Role of German Academic Medicine and Science in the Medical Crimes of the Third Reich and the Shoah: The Continuing Legacy

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
William Seidelman
Keyword(s):  
Medical Profession ◽  
Ethical Reasoning ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Human Anatomy ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
Nazi Medicine ◽  
The University

Despite the revelations of the Nuremberg Medical Trial and subsequent prosecutions, the reality is that with particular respect to medicine and the role of leading academic and scientific institutions during the so-called "Third Reich," the postwar period war was marked by a "Great Silence." With few exceptions, this silence continued until the 1980's, when increasing systematic scholarly research and inadvertent discoveries revealed the significant role played by the German and Austrian medical profession during the Nazi period and the Shoah. The discoveries included body parts of victims of Nazi terror in the collections of university institutes of anatomy and scientific research. The Pernkopf Atlas of Human Anatomy represents a legacy from Nazi medicine. Although it includes images from Nazi victims, its accuracy makes it a valued resource in surgery. The Vienna Protocol is a new halachic responsum on the question of what to do with newly discovered remains from Nazi victims and their data, and can provide guidance in the ethical reasoning on whether to use the Pernkopf atlas. Photo credit: Faculty of Medicine of the University of Vienna under it's newly appointed dean, Prof. Eduard Pernkopf, immediately after the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany that occurred in March 1938. Used with permission of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria).

scholarly journals Nerve Surgeons’ Assessment of the Role of Eduard Pernkopf ’s Atlas of Topographic and Applied Human Anatomy in Surgical Practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Yee ◽  
Demetrius M. Coombs ◽  
Sabine Hildebrandt ◽  
William E. Seidelman ◽  
J. Henk Coert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Peripheral Nerves ◽  
Surgical Planning ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Human Anatomy ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
American Society ◽  
Medical University

Pernkopf's Atlas of Anatomy contains anatomical plates with detailed images of the peripheral nerves. Its use is controversial due to the author's association with the "Third Reich" and the potential depiction of victims of the Holocaust. The ethical implications of using this atlas for informing surgical planning have not been assessed. Our objectives were: (1) assess the role of Pernkopf's atlas in nerve surgeons' current practice, and (2) determine whether a proposal for its ethical handling may provide possible guidance for use in surgery and surgical education. Published in NEUROSURGERY, Volume 84, Number 2, February 2019Presented at the American Society of Peripheral Nerve, 27th Annual Meeting,Phoenix, Arizona, January 12-14, 2018.Copyright ©2018 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, republished in the JBC Special Issue with permission. Image credit: Table of Contents image provided by the Medical University of Vienna, MUW-AD-003250-5-ABB-376  

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