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This book brings the idea of realism back to the focus of political science. Contrary to current mainstream thought, the author contributes to the recently renewed interest in political realism by suggesting we return to the basics understanding of politics: power and political action

In European-American culture the tension between "what there is" and "what there should be" has been a constant source of political action. In the interest of becoming more "scientific," modern political science increasingly fails to recognize that power is interpersonal, not institutional. Arguing against the current mainstream thought, Andr̀s L̀nczi contributes to the recently renewed interest in political realism by suggesting we return to the basic understanding of politics: power and political action. The modern bias towards democracy has become fundamental, or to put it differently, democracy is a political religion today. This result from the confusion of two different realms of life: the realm of manners, the written and unwritten rules how we should live our lives, and the methods we apply when we wish to understand political matters scientifically. L̀nczi shows how the distinction must be sharply drawn between norms of morals and manners, and those of scholarly inquiries.

From climate change to nuclear war to the rise of demagogic populists, our world is shaped by doomsday expectations. In this path-breaking book, Alison McQueen shows why three of history's greatest political realists feared apocalyptic politics. Niccolò Machiavelli in the midst of Italy's vicious power struggles, Thomas Hobbes during England's bloody civil war, and Hans Morgenthau at the dawn of the thermonuclear age all saw the temptation to prophesy the end of days. Each engaged in subtle and surprising strategies to oppose apocalypticism, from using its own rhetoric to neutralize its worst effects to insisting on a clear-eyed, tragic acceptance of the human condition. Scholarly yet accessible, this book is at once an ambitious contribution to the history of political thought and a work that speaks to our times

The first reference work to explore the 2000-year history of political realism and reassess its place in today's worldDownload an ebook of the chapter abstracts and notes on contributors (pdf)Political realism is a highly diverse body of international relations theory. This substantial reference work examines political realism in terms of its history, its scientific methodology and its normative role in international affairs.Split into three sections, it covers the 2000-year canon of realism: the different schools of thought, the key thinkers and how it responds to foreign policy challenges faced by individual states and globally. It brings political realism up-to-date by showing where theory has failed to keep up with contemporary problems and suggests how it can be applied and adapted to fit our new, globalised world order.Key FeaturesThe first volume to offer a full, balanced guide to Political Realism: its history and its normative role in international affairsCovers the main thinkers, from Thucydides through Niccolò Machiavelli to Isaiah BerlinEngages with the major foreign policy issues of our times, such as strategic deterrence, nationalism, terrorism, cyber security, climate change, the open society and religionConsiders political realism in non-Western contexts, including Israel, Russia and ChinaIncludes political realism's ground-up growth and interpretation outwith Western contextsContributorsUriel Abulof, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.Christopher Adair-Toteff, Zeppelin University, Germany.Erica Benner, Yale University, USA.John Bew, King's College London, UK.Todd Breyfogle, Aspen Institute, Washington, D.C., USA.Joshua Cherniss, Georgetown University, USA.Alan Chong, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore.Lindsay P. Cohn, U.S. Naval War College, USA.Kody W. Cooper, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA.Marzieh Kouhi Esfahani, Durham University, UK.Markus Fischer, California State University, Fullerton, USA.Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA.Stuart Gray, Politics at Washington and Lee University, USA.Robert Howse, New York University School of Law, USA.David Martin Jones, University of Queensland, Australia and King's College London, UK.Menno R. Kamminga, University of Groningen, Netherlands.Peter Iver Kaufman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and University of Richmond, USA.David Kerr, Durham University, UK.Paul Kirkland, Carthage College, Wisconsin, USA.Douglas B. Klusmeyer, American University, Washington, DC, USA.Konstantinos Kostagiannis, University of Maastricht, Netherlands.Ayelet Haimson Lushkov, University of Texas at Austin, USA.Cecelia Lynch, University of California, Irvine, USA.David Mayers, Boston University, USA.Kenneth B. McIntyre, Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, USA.Neville Morley, University of Exeter, UK.John Mueller, Mershon Center for International Security Studies and Ohio State University, USA.Masashi Okuyama, International Geopolitica

The fate of minorities, the quality and ultimate purpose of elections, the place of truth in human relations: these are some of the core concerns of this unique narrative. Although handled against the background of recent political events in Cameroon, the

"Shows that the Western tradition of statecraft, long considered the method of tyrants and oligarchs, can steer our thinking about democracy in bold new directions"--

Introduction -- Elites, non-elites, and politics -- Elites, non-elites, and revolution -- Elites, non-elites, and democracy -- Ultimate and instrumental values in liberal democracy -- The Arab Spring folly -- Political realism in the twenty-first century -- Epilogue : the American preoccupation with non-elites.

This fearless study offers a broad and realistic understanding of what is and isn't possible in modern politics. Higley contends that stable liberal democracy is possible only when elites, although always self-interested, are unified and drive a coherent political agenda. Without this vital component, the prospects for lasting democracy grow dim.

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Realism and Utopianism in World Affairs -- No Peace without Arms -- Perpetual Peace? -- Imperialism, Nationalism, Chauvinism -- On the Study of International Relations -- World Politics in the Mid-Twentieth Century -- The Economic Road to War -- The Tragic Element in Modern International Conflict -- The Study of International Politics -- Courage or Perdition? -- Beyond National Interest -- Reflections on the State of Political Science -- History and Diplomacy as Viewed by a Diplomatist -- The Role of the Learned Man in Government -- The Ethical Dimensions of Diplomacy -- Realism, Neorealism, and American Liberalism.

After the Enlightenment is the first attempt at understanding modern political realism as a historical phenomenon. Realism is not an eternal wisdom inherited from Thucydides, Machiavelli or Hobbes, but a twentieth-century phenomenon rooted in the interwar years, the collapse of the Weimar Republic, and the transfer of ideas between Continental Europe and the United States. The book provides the first intellectual history of the rise of realism in America, as it informed policy and academic circles after 1945. It breaks through the narrow confines of the discipline of international relations and resituates realism within the crisis of American liberalism. Realism provided a new framework for foreign policy thinking and transformed the nature of American democracy. This book sheds light on the emergence of 'rational choice' as a new paradigm for political decision-making and speaks to the current revival in realism in international affairs

"Drawing on Husserl's concepts of communalization and intersubjectivity, this book aspires to an orientation in which human beings are understood in the context of their full-blooded, concrete existence - the life-world. Michael F. Hickman offers a fresh return to the raw experience of politics through the contemporary realist idea of radical disagreement as the 'circumstances of politics.' He surpasses realist limitations through the acknowledgment of the constitution of world itself as an achievement of the intersubjective community, whilst crucially asserting that the political horizon is distinguishable from, but coterminous with, the life-world itself. Through the use of hypotheticals, an unprecedented phenomenological account of political experience is offered, in which three major themes of political subjectivity are explored: belonging and possession, authority, and foreignness and political others. Finally, a multi-phase analysis of legitimacy is conducted which, taking into account universal human rights and 'empirically' identifiable expressions of acceptance, is nonetheless rooted in a source - the life-world - that reaches beyond any mere collectivity of ego-acts. Utilizing an expanded philosophical universe, Husserlian Phenomenology and Contemporary Political Realism offers a path forward from the ideological stalemates in which liberal theory seems hopelessly locked. It will appeal to scholars involved in the study of Political Theory and Philosophy, International Relations, intercultural studies, human rights and phenomenology"--

Masao Maruyama was the most influential and respected political thinker in post-WWII Japan. He believed that the collective mentality, inherent in the traditional Japanese way of thinking, was a key reason for the defeat in WWII and was convinced that such thought needed to be modernized. In this book Fumiko Sasaki argues that the cause of the prolonged political, economic and social decline in Japan since the early 1990s can be explained by the same characteristics Maruyama identified after 1945. Using Maruyama's thought Sasaki explores how the Japanese people see their role in their nation.