Six Principles of Political Realism, extracted from Politics Amongst

Nations: The Struggle for power and Peace (page 3-14), 1948, Alfred
A. Knopf, New York

Whilst the underlying assumptions of realism can be expressed as far back as 411 BC
with Thucydides account of the history of the Peloponnesian War, modern realism as
a discipline gained strength after the events of World War II. Hans Morgenthau was
the forefather of modern realism and still until today his work in Politics Amongst
Nations (Morgenthau & Nations, 1948) has been cited nearly 8000 times. In this
literature Morgenthau (1948) theorises a new term to international relations dubbed
political realism.
Fundamentally his work is of direct contrast to idealism and makes strong
assumptions on human nature that conflict is inevitable, a by-product of the search for
power and is meaningful in nature, rather then caused from misunderstandings. At the
heart of his term political realism, Morgenthau identified the concept through six
principles of which are headlined as;
1. Politics is governed by objective laws that have their roots in human nature.
2. Interest is defined in terms of power
3. Interest is defined as power from an objective category which is universally valid,
but whose meaning can change.
4. Political realism is aware of the moral significance of political action. It is also
aware of the ineluctable tension between the moral command and the requirements of
successful political action.
5. Political realism refuses to identify the moral aspirations of a particular nation
with the moral laws that govern the universe
6. The difference between political realism and other schools is real and profound
Although the six principles are all specifically addressed; in summary and at the heart
of all six factors is that man act on power and this is precedent over other factors such
as wealth and morality. Statesman will always pursue self-interests although what
their interests are may change over historical context.
From a personal reflection, on first review of the literature I felt an underlying
resentment to man in general. This prompted me to understand more about the
authors origin and upon some research I wasnt really surprised to find that Hans
Morgenthau was a Jewish German, arguably one of the most adversely affected by the
events of Word War II. Understandably this influence could have very well skewed
Morgenthau a lot and provided greater fuel to oppose the ideas of idealism. Although
there werent too many authors who wrote about the Jewish influence on Morgenthau,
(Mollov, 2000) also shared a similar viewpoint discussed in The Jewish influence on
Morgenthaus Realism.
Psycho - analysis aside, Morgenthau strengthens his argument of each of his six
principles by detailing comparable historical events from classical philosophies of
China, India and Greece to philosophy from Abraham Lincoln. As the old saying
goes: history doesnt lie and Morgenthau uses it a lot to strengthen his argument.
Post World War II Morgenthaus six principles of political realism and indeed his
public voicing were advocated against the Vietnam War. An argument was that
intervention would not draw an immediate surrender rather then enable the opposing
country to feel its power is being restricted, thus, will do its best to resist the threat of
losing its power. Indeed this was a reasonably true account of what happened. Other
scholars have argued the similar mindset of the intervention into Iraq (Schmidt &
Williams, 2008) (Nuruzzaman, 2006), with some saying if Morgenthau would have
still been alive he would have voiced his objection publicly as well.
In conclusion there is no doubt that this literature was a very powerful reflection of
realism, albeit a dark reflection. Critics aside, I think as a first image perspective, ie
looking at an event from an individuals perspective, Morgenthaus six principles of
political realism can still justify and be used in current events. As a stand-alone
viewpoint however I think is an over simplification and perhaps one sided view of
world politics and systems and state analysis should also be maintained to encapsulate
a clearer picture.





References



Mollov, M. B. (2000). The Jewish Experience as an Influence on Hans J.
Morgenthau's Realism. Jewish Political Studies Review, 113-140.
Morgenthau, H., & Nations, P. A. (1948). The struggle for power and peace. Nova
York, Alfred Kopf.
Nuruzzaman, M. (2006). Beyond the Realist Theories:NeoConservative
Realism and the American Invasion of Iraq. International Studies
Perspectives, 7(3), 239-253.
Schmidt, B. C., & Williams, M. C. (2008). The Bush doctrine and the Iraq War:
neoconservatives versus realists. Security Studies, 17(2), 191-220.