The limits of power: Knowledge, ethics, and foreign policy in Hans J. Morgenthau’s international theory

2020 ◽  
pp. 004711782093562
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Zambernardi
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Action ◽  
International Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Limits Of Knowledge ◽  
Political Thinker

Hans J. Morgenthau’s contribution to international relations and political theory appears to have been fully recognized to date. However, his ideas have undergone surprisingly little comprehensive investigation: an attitude that made it possible to grasp only a few aspects of his reflections. The main argument of this article is that the main area of inquiry in Morgenthau’s scholarship – international politics and foreign policy – is based on general considerations regarding the role of reason in politics and the limits of knowledge of the social universe. Not only does the question of the possibility of such knowledge lie at the root of his considerations on political action, but it also forms the mainspring of his reflection on ethics. Through an inquiry into the red thread that tightly links his diverse body of thought on social sciences, ethics, and foreign policy, the article aims to show that Morgenthau was a systematic political thinker who set out from theoretical observations on the limits of knowledge to develop particular insights into ethics and, from there, a particular notion of how foreign policy should be conducted. In other words, Morgenthau established links of essential continuity between knowledge, ethics, and action.

Ciceronian international society

2019 ◽  
pp. 175508821989578
Author(s):  
Stephen Patrick Sims
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Society ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Valuable Resource ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
International Theory ◽  
Political Thinker

This article explores what Cicero as a political thinker can offer to the study of international relations. Although previous readings of Cicero have emphasized his Stoic influences and his natural law teaching as the basis of a cosmopolitan world society, I emphasize the way in which Cicero can deepen the concept of international society. International society relies on certain norms and institutions to function properly, such as international law, sovereignty, and the use of war to restrain violence and redress injustice. We find all these concepts articulated clearly in Cicero’s moral and political thought. Cicero also shows the limits of these institutions and norms, explaining why none of them is absolute. Finally, Cicero adds to our theorizing about international society by drawing attention to the role of honor, ruling, and inequality in international society. As such, classical political thought, and Cicero’s in particular, provide a valuable resource for future thinking about international theory.

Leaders and Foreign Policy: Surveying the Evidence

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Benedict Dyson ◽  
Thomas Briggs
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Political Action ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Leadership Influence ◽  
Causal Variable

Political Science accounts of international politics downplay the role of political leaders, and a survey of major journals reveals that fewer than 3% of all articles focus on leaders. This is in stark contrast to public discourse about politics, where leadership influence over events is regarded as a given. This article suggests that, at a minimum, leaders occupy a space in fully specified chains of causality as the aggregators of material and ideational forces, and the transmitters of those forces into authoritative political action. Further, on occasion a more important role is played by the leader: as a crucial causal variable aggregating material and ideational energies in an idiosyncratic fashion and thereby shaping decisions and outcomes. The majority of the article is devoted to surveying the comparatively small literature on political leaders within International Relations scholarship. The article concludes by inviting our colleagues to be receptive to the idiosyncrasies, as well as the regularities, of statespersonship.

Lessons in International Communication: Carr, Angell and Lippmann on human nature, public opinion and leadership

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN CHONG
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Education ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
International Communication ◽  
Social Foundations ◽  
International Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Walter Lippmann

AbstractThe sub-field of International Communication within International Relations is insufficiently cognisant of the social foundations of communication. Through a selective interpretation of three prominent interwar thinkers’ works, it will be argued that International Communication is a largely social, even ideological, field. The advantage of reading interwar international theory lies in their eclectic appreciation of the power of public opinion and leadership without undue fixation with realist and idealist labels. By reading Edward Carr, Norman Angell and Walter Lippmann, one can tease out the following three themes for organising the study of International Communication: human nature assumptions; opinion as power; and leadership in foreign policy in terms of public education.

Podmiotowość państwa we współczesnym świecie. Globalizacja a sterowność

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
Piotr Rutkowski ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
State Power ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Network Power

Paper examines place and role of states in the modern world. Firstly the concept of globalization will be shortly analyzed. It is a notion that, especially in the social sciences, has a lot of meanings, because it has many aspects and levels. Author will try to localize the main issues that makes globalization a complex notion. Secondly, problem of paradigm crisis in political science will be presented. Classic meanings of politics and power has been outdated, because of new phenomenons that are consequences of globalization. That means that we should try to look for notions and methods that will help us to understand surrounding world and socio-political sphere, especially when it comes to state, power, politics and international relations. Then the concept of “the art of rule” invented by Jadwiga Staniszkis will be presented. Author will emphasize that this theoretical concept will be helpful in analyzing subjectivity of states in the age of globalization. Then author, basing on this concept, will try to examine the subjectivity of state in modern world. An attempt will be also made to show what is network power and its consequences, point out the subjects that will replace state that is losing its position and think about the future of the states.

The force of prescriptions

1984 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 685-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich Kratochwil
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Issue Area ◽  
The Social

How do norms influence choices in social life? Conceptual distinctions among types of norms and suggestions in the work of Hobbes, Hume, and Durkheim help us investigate in greater detail the “woolly” concept of regimes in international relations. When we disaggregate the “set of explicit and implicit norms, rules, and decisionmaking procedures” in a given issue area and focus on the conceptual links between rules, principles (norms), and actions, we gain an understanding of the role of norms in social life that is more comprehensive than the understanding provided by traditional accounts. Furthermore, placing the present regime discussion within wider philosophical traditions enables us to develop a more critical approach to the building of theory in the social sciences, since the use of norms as explanatory devices challenges the predominant positivist outlook in several important respects.

scholarly journals The Response of the Hermeneutic Social Sciences to a ‘Post Carbon World’

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Redclift
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Environmental Economics ◽  
Back Seat ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Low Profile ◽  
The Social

Abstract: Sociology has taken a ‘back seat’ in much of the debate, within policy and social science circles, about ‘post-carbon’ societies, in which our dependence on hydrocarbons is significantly reduced. The low profile of sociology does not reflect a lack of relevance, but rather an inability to follow up on the debates being generated in several congruent areas, including geography, international relations and particularly environmental economics. Sociology has much to contribute to the discussion of societal alternatives, not least in the work being undertaken on utopias and governance. It is suggested that sociologists can enhance the role of the social science disciplines, and that of sociology in particular, by re-engaging in the wider discussions, lending a hermeneutic understanding to the current policy debates about responding to climate change.

International Relations before Critical Theory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Devetak
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Science Standards ◽  
Epistemic Practices ◽  
International Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Way

The chapter elaborates the post-war disciplinary context from which critical international theory emerged. While most accounts start with the so-called ‘third debate’, this chapter situates its emergence in the longer story of the rise in theory’s prestige in the social sciences. It tells the story of a series of disputes over method (Methodenstreit) that paved the way not just for higher levels of theoretical abstraction, and a never vanquished humanist challenge to the scientific outlook. It was during the 1950s that the persona of the theorist was first established in international relations. In the following decades, personae of the international relations theorist evolved through academic institutionalization of certain epistemic practices and technical capabilities modelled on behaviouralist and philosophy-of-science standards. The stage was thus set for a rival, namely, critical intellectual persona to emerge in opposition to both the humanist and scientific outlooks, but in continuity with the ever-higher orders of abstraction.

scholarly journals Interdisciplinary Approaches to Emotions in Politics and International Relations

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 48-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Prior ◽  
Yuri Van Hoef
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
Education History ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interdisciplinary Study

The ‘emotional turn’ within the social sciences and humanities attracts increasing scholarly attention. Political Science, traditionally emphasising the ‘rational’ public sphere rather than the ‘emotional’ private sphere, has increasingly questioned this dichotomisation, identifying broader political concepts and practices. The international political process—frequently characterised by widespread distrust, populist campaigns and extreme rhetoric—necessitates addressing and examining its underlying emotions. Informal, affective manifestations of politics are enormously influential, profoundly shaping inter- and intra-national democracy; they accordingly require interdisciplinary study. This thematic issue of <em>Politics and Governance</em> includes disciplines as diverse as education, history, international relations, political theory, psychology, and sociology. In doing so, we illustrate that emotions are cross-disciplinary concerns, relevant beyond the study of politics.

scholarly journals Irans Außenpolitik zwischen Religion und Macht

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (182) ◽  
pp. 95-111
Author(s):  
Katharina Götsch
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Final Section ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Nature

Protector of Shiites, export of Islamist revolution, fight against Israel and support of Palestine – the religious element plays an obvious role in Iran’s foreign relations. At the same time, several foreign policy actions and positions of Iran indicate the prioritization of material national interests (of geopolitical and economic nature): a recent example is the nuclear deal from July 2015. The article will first discuss theoretical approaches in the social sciences for the analysis of religion in international relations; subsequently, the ideological foundation and constitutional principles of the Islamist Republic of Iran are set out as the basis for empirical case analyses in the final section.

International Relations at the Beginning of the XX Century in the Works of Vladimir Mikhailovich Khvostov

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 218-221
Author(s):  
Albina Imamutdinova ◽  
Nikita Kuvshinov ◽  
Elena Andreeva ◽  
Elena Venidiktova
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
History Of

Abstract The article discusses the research activities of Vladimir Mikhailovich Khvostov, his creative legacy on issues and problems of international relations of the early ХХ century; the life of V.M. Khvostov, characterization and evolution of his approaches and views on the history of international relations, foreign policy. A prominent organizer and theorist in the field of pedagogical Sciences, academician Vladimir Mikhailovich Khvostov played a significant role in the formation of the Academy of pedagogical Sciences of the USSR – the all-Union center of pedagogical thought. As its first President, he paid great attention to the development and improvement of the system of humanitarian education in the school, taking into account all the tasks and requirements imposed by the practice of Communist construction in our country. In his reports and speeches at various scientific sessions and conferences, he repeatedly emphasized the exceptional importance of social Sciences in the training of not only educated girls and boys, but also in the formation of politically literate youth.

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