Chasing Morgenthau, or: What Is Political Realism?

Abstract

Schuett, Robert (2012) Chasing Morgenthau, or: What Is Political Realism? International Studies Review, doi: 10.1111/j.1468‐2486.2012.01082.x

Realism, emotion, and dynamic allegiances in global politics

“…To that end, this article finds unexpected insights into the tradition of classical realism, especially the writings of Hans Morgenthau and Reinhold Niebuhr 1 . Seeking to complement the more narrow focus of structural realism, various scholars have returned to the core insights of early realists in IR (Petersen 1999; Bain 2000; Koskenniemi 2002; Craig 2003; Lebow 2003; Williams 2005, 2007; Scheuerman 2009, 2010; Schuett 2012; Levine 2013). However, as Solomon (2012) has recently noted, these interventions have yet to appreciate the importance of love and other emotions in the classical realist assessment of power.…”