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This article presents an overview of Oswald Spengler's theory of civilization based upon his `first' and `second' philosophies of history. The `late' Spengler left behind his more aesthetic and historicist understanding of civilization, turning to philosophical anthropology. Spengler lost confidence that a new great culture would someday emerge. While Samuel Huntington in The Clash of Civilizations argues that civilizational pluralism is growing and anticipates a non-Western civilization eventually succeeding a West in decline, dialog with Spengler suggests otherwise.

The author investigates Status's provocative ideas on the ethical dilemma in statecraft, and then compares and contrasts his position with that of three of the most important contributors to the German tradition of Realpolitik; Frederick the Great, Hegel, and Ranke. He also discusses Status's complex relationship to Social Darwinism and the relationship of his ideas on statecraft to those of one of his most influential critics, Friedrich Meinecke. He argues that the superficial mood of Western triumphalism, precipitated by the crisis of Communism, is symptomatic of the recurrent failure in the United States to soberly reflect upon the prospects for significantly ameliorating the oft-times tragic nature of international political developments in the twentieth century. He claims that conversation with Status, the seminal historical pessimist of the twentieth century, helps to provide an imperfect but useful corrective to this optimistic perspective.

The crisis in Communism and the apparent end of the Cold War have provoked a resurgence of liberal optimism and Western triumphalism. Recent visions of a peaceful world have been conjured up, only to be overtaken by war in the Persian Gulf and the threat of global recession. Awareness of the dark side of international relations in the twentieth century persists despite the irrepressible hopes of many of its students. At this juncture in history, therefore, when eternal hope once again collides with recurrent despair, it is timely to consider the international relations thought of Oswald Spengler, the author of The Decline of the West and 'pessimist extraordinary'.