International Relations: Morgenthau and Realism.

Richard W. Chadwick
Spring, 1997

Assumptions (following Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations)

A science of international relations is possible.
Interest defined as power is at the core of politics. the pursuit of power is the struggle for control over the minds and actions of others. While many goals are pursued (cf. Lasswell and Maslow), in international affairs attention to power is essential because goals are unlikely to be attained without it.
Data on power must be obtained in a given cultural context; unlike, say, temperature, there is no universal way to measure power (cf. Cline).
Power is pursued through consequential thinking (a term I have borrowed from Everett Kleinjans); that is, actions are taken in anticipation of particular consequences being achieved, not because of prior ethical or moral imperatives, for instance. (Aphorism: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.)
Realists are open-minded, not arrogant; power cannot be successfully pursued with arrogance because the latter leads to misperception and poor judgment. (Aphorism: patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.)
Politics is distinctive: it is not reducible to economics, philosophy or law.
The future is indeterminate; as Barry Hughes says, "we cannot predict the future but we must act as if we can" (from his book, International Futures). In politics one can assess trends but not predict particular actions (compare Deming's theory that we all live in systems which determine our average behavior).

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I created this page on March 13, 1997. I last updated it March 13, 1997.
Dr. Richard W. Chadwick Professor, Political Science, University of Hawaii
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