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Hans J. Morgenthau?s Conception of the Balance of Power
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In the aftermath of the First World War, these states not only became the dominant states in the system, but they also subscribed to very different beliefs to those adhered to by the European nation states, thereby precipitating an even bigger transformation in the system.
According to constructivists, realists account for international politics in
purely material terms.
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The analysis of Politics Among Nations presented here
demonstrates that the realist position is much more complex than this assessment acknowledges. Morgenthau’s proposition that states are driven to maximize power is mediated by the idea that power is not amenable to accurate measurement. But there is also a strong presumption running throughout Politics Among Nations that ideas play an independent role in international politics. Dynasticism and nationalism are not material forces, but persuasive ideas that, as Morgenthau acknowledges, have been used to legitimize very different kinds of international politics. So for Morgenthau there is a complex interrelationship between material and ideational forces. It is not at all clear, as a consequence, that he would have disagreed, in principle, with Wendt’s(1999) sophisticated social theory that shows how ideas govern most of the social world we operate in, although these ideas are, in the end, constrained by ‘brute’ material facts. But it is never these facts that inhibit social change. This was certainly the position that Morgenthau adopted. He favoured world government, but accepted that this political outcome could not be realised until there was a transformation in beliefs. In the meantime, he favoured the promotion of an international order that rested on a balance of power that promoted common security.
Bibliography
Adler, Emanuel (1992) ‘The Emergence of Cooperation: National Epistemic Communities and the International Evolution of the Idea of Nuclear Arms Control’ International Organization 46(1), 101-45; reprinted as chapter 6 in Emanuel Adler (2005) Communitarian International Relations: The Epistemic Foundations of International Relations London: Routledge
Black, Jeremy (1990) The Rise and Fall of the European Powers 1679-1793London, Edward Arnold
Bourke, Joanna(2004) ‘New Tales from the Trenches’ The Independent Review Section, Friday, 3 September, p23
Bull,Hedley (1977) The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics London, Macmillan
Butterfield, Herbert (1966) ‘The Balance of Power’ in Herbery Butterfield and Martin Wight,eds, Diplomatic Investigations: Essays in the Theory of International Politics London, Allen and Unwin
Claude, Inis L. (1962) Power and International Relations New York, Random House
Crosby, Alfred W.(1986) Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900 Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Dehio, L.(1962) The Precarious Balance: Four Centuries of the European Power Struggle trans. Charles Fullman, New York, Vintage Books
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See, for example, Wendt(1999) and Guzzini(1998,2004)
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| | Authors: Little, Richard. |
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In the aftermath of the First World War, these states not only became the dominant
states in the system, but they also subscribed to very different beliefs to those adhered
to by the European nation states, thereby precipitating an even bigger transformation
in the system.
According to constructivists, realists account for international politics in
purely material terms.
The analysis of Politics Among Nations presented here
demonstrates that the realist position is much more complex than this assessment
acknowledges. Morgenthau’s proposition that states are driven to maximize power is
mediated by the idea that power is not amenable to accurate measurement. But there
is also a strong presumption running throughout Politics Among Nations that ideas
play an independent role in international politics. Dynasticism and nationalism are not
material forces, but persuasive ideas that, as Morgenthau acknowledges, have been
used to legitimize very different kinds of international politics. So for Morgenthau
there is a complex interrelationship between material and ideational forces. It is not at
all clear, as a consequence, that he would have disagreed, in principle, with
Wendt’s(1999) sophisticated social theory that shows how ideas govern most of the
social world we operate in, although these ideas are, in the end, constrained by ‘brute’
material facts. But it is never these facts that inhibit social change. This was certainly
the position that Morgenthau adopted. He favoured world government, but accepted
that this political outcome could not be realised until there was a transformation in
beliefs. In the meantime, he favoured the promotion of an international order that
rested on a balance of power that promoted common security.
Bibliography
Adler, Emanuel (1992) ‘The Emergence of Cooperation: National Epistemic
Communities and the International Evolution of the Idea of Nuclear Arms Control’
International Organization 46(1), 101-45; reprinted as chapter 6 in Emanuel Adler
(2005) Communitarian International Relations: The Epistemic Foundations of
International Relations London: Routledge
Black, Jeremy (1990) The Rise and Fall of the European Powers 1679-1793London,
Edward Arnold
Bourke, Joanna(2004) ‘New Tales from the Trenches’ The Independent Review
Section, Friday, 3 September, p23
Bull,Hedley (1977) The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics
London, Macmillan
Butterfield, Herbert (1966) ‘The Balance of Power’ in Herbery Butterfield and Martin
Wight,eds, Diplomatic Investigations: Essays in the Theory of International Politics
London, Allen and Unwin
Claude, Inis L. (1962) Power and International Relations New York, Random House
Crosby, Alfred W.(1986) Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of
Europe 900-1900 Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Dehio, L.(1962) The Precarious Balance: Four Centuries of the European Power
Struggle trans. Charles Fullman, New York, Vintage Books
32
See, for example, Wendt(1999) and Guzzini(1998,2004)
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