Realist Strategies of Republican Peace: Reinhold Niebuhr, Hans J. Morgenthau and the Politics of Patriotism as Dissent

In recent years, classical realism has witnessed an intense revival - academically as well as politically. Indeed, American politicians, from Barack Obama to John McCain all claim to be inspired by classical realism in their foreign policy perspectives - and to be heirs to the ethical realism of a figure such as Reinhold Niebuhr. This book explores classical realism as a product of both American and European intellectual traditions. It also investigates the particular political project that 20th century American intellectuals such as Hans J. Morgenthau and Reinhold Niebuhr attached to realism in the Cold War era. As the book concludes, Morgenthau, Niebuhr and the broader intellectual landscape of which they were part, saw realism as much more than a 'theory of international relations': To them, realism was an ethical inclination - an intellectual, indeed spiritual, foundation upon which the democratic virtues of both hope and doubt, pride and humility, vision and restraint might be cultivated. As the book concludes, a close reading of Niebuhr and Morgenthau's engagement with realism might enables us to frame both a critique of contemporary American foreign policy and a vision of dissenting patriotism much needed today.