Six Principles of Political Realism

Six Principles of Political Realism

Hans Morgenthau was born in Germany in 1904, educated at the Universities
of Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, practiced law for a time, and taught in
Frankfurt, Geneva and Madrid before coming to the United States in 1937.
After teaching stints in Brooklyn and Kansas City, Morganthau in 1943 settled
into his professorship at the University of Chicago, where he taught for the
next thirty years. He ended his teaching career at the City University of New
York.

“Politics is an art and not a science, and what is required for its
mastery is not the rationality of the engineer but the wisdom and
the moral strength of the statesman.” ― Hans J. Morgenthau

In 1948, noted political scientist Hans J. Morgenthau published his famous

book “Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace”. This
classic text, which is considered the bible of the realist school of international
relations, established realism as the fundamental way of thinking about
international relations. In this book, Morgenthau penned a chapter titled “A
Realist Theory of International Relations” wherein he presented six
fundamental principles of political realism. Through these principles,
Morgenthau seeks to develop a comprehensive theory of international politics,
which he terms political realism.

According to Morgenthau’s thoughts, in contrast to idealism which assumes

the essential goodness and infinite malleability of human nature and the
ability of politics to live up to moral standards, realism assumes that the world
is composed of opposing interests, and conflict among them is inevitable.
Realism is fundamentally concerned with power rather than morality or
material interests. It includes strong assumptions about human nature –
humans are not naturally good and conflict is the natural outcome of the
search for power, not of misunderstanding.

Following are the 6 principles of political realism:

1. Political realism believes that politics is governed by objective laws with

roots in human nature. Realism should try to differentiate (in politics)
between “what is true objectively and rationally, supported by evidence and
illuminated by reason” and “what is only a subjective judgement, divorced
from the facts as they are and informed by prejudice and wishful thinking.”

2. The main signpost of political realism is the concept of interest defined in

terms of power which infuses rational order into the subject matter of politics,
and thus makes the theoretical understanding of politics possible.

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 Six Principles of Political Realism

3. Realism assumes that interest defined as power is an objective category

which is universally valid but not with a meaning that is fixed once and for all.
Power is the control of man over man.

4. Political realism is aware of the moral significance of political action. It is

also aware of the tension between the moral command and the requirements
of successful political action. Realism maintains that universal moral
principles cannot be applied to the actions of states in their abstract universal
formulation, but that they must be filtered through the concrete
circumstances of time and place.

5. Political realism refuses to identify the moral aspirations of a particular

nation with the moral laws that govern the universe. It is the concept of
interest defined in terms of power that saves us from moral excess and
political folly.

6. The political realist maintains the autonomy of the political sphere; he asks:
“How does this policy affect the power of the nation?” Political realism is
based on a pluralistic conception of human nature. A man who was nothing
but “political man” would be a beast, for he would be completely lacking in
moral restraints. But, in order to develop an autonomous theory of political
behaviour, “political man” must be abstracted from other aspects of human
nature.

In short, international relations scholars are taught when dealing with

realism, that the world is anarchic, there exist no central authority that can
regulate such anarchy and thus, as nation states, you are on your own and
your survival is premised on interests defined in terms of power.

— Compiled and Edited by Aamir Mahar.

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