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INTERNATIONAL

POLITICS
Enduring Concepts and
Contemporary Issues
NINTH EDITION

ROBERT J. ART
Brandeis UlIh:ersity

ROBERT JERVIS
Columbia UlIh:ersity

"'W

'"

ill

;\j(,\\ Y(lrk Sail Francisco Bostoll


Londoll Toronto S\'(llle\~
1\I('xico Citl Mnllich Pa'ris Cape

Montre'al

selfish indi\idual actions. l\lorl'OHT. (:'\'<:>11 if' Illost states desire Olll\- to k(ep what
their OWl! interests dict,lte that the\' band to(tether in order to r('sist am
stat!:' or coalition of states that threat<: 'IlS 10 do'lllinnie 11~;1l1.
.
The balallce-()f~n()wpr S\'stelll is likely to prl'H:'lll ,lll\' 01\(' state:~ acquirillg
bCllefit all states c<]ualk 1101' lllailltain t11(:> peace
because of inequalities in power and exper
tise. \Vars \\ill oceur hccause thc\' art' one means by which statl:'s call pH'Sen'(' what
what the'\" covel. S 111 all states may eH'll lw eliminated by their
more powertllillt'ighbors, TIlt' illternational system will be
if states flock to what they think is the
or the dOlllino theory argiles that
.
slIccessful age;ression will attmct Illany f()lIowers. either out of fear or out of a desire
to share the spoils of
pown theory and
under most
in thei r lot wit h the
to preH>nt all:

impulse, are more


come anarch\ and
and norms that should gm'ern
rit\" dilemma and illcrease '
elllbodv COlllmon

states acting on their OWl I.


or exist alongside this
and illstitutions can help O\'('r
When states agree on the
the\' call ott!'11 ameliorate til(' seCll

making it easier tor each state to see whether others are Ii\"

POWER AND PRINCIPLE


I N STATECRAFT
Six Principles of Political Realism
HANS J. MORGENTHAU

1. Political realislll belil'\es that politics, like society ill gem'rat is


objecth'e laws that haH:' their roots ill lHllllan nature. III order to
is first liecessaIY
. to llllderslallli the laws h\'. which soddy lin'S,
thest' laws
illlpC'n1olls to our preferemes, men
the risk ()rt~lilure,
helie\ing as it does in the
of tlte laws
the J)ossibilih'
that

or

\)\

as
must also

prOillises, and increasing the costs the state \\'ill pa: if it cheats. In
section of this
we will discuss how institutions can contribllte to
gOH'rnance under currcnt

lime their roots, has not changed

Greece enclcm'orecl to disc-O\er


these I<I\\"S. lIt'nl'e, IIm'e!t\ is lIot necessarily a \irtue ill political theol"\, nor is old
age a dt'!(,ct. The bet that a theory of politics, if t1wre lw such a theon. has ll('Yer
been heard ofbef()re tends to create a presumption against, r~\ther than ill Lwor of.
its sounrlnt'ss. COllW'rsek tht bet t hat a tlleolY of politics was de\'elopt( I
or ('\'en thollsands of \'ears ago as was the theory of the balance of
that it must be outmoded and obsolett.,.
For realism. theory consists in ascertaininQ' facts and
.-~-;.,

(,:\<llllillatioll of the

From

>-\iilOJI_~ ;\'otiolls

hy

f (all\ J. \iorgenthall.

Halldolll HOllsE', 111(", Used hI permission of ,\lFrc(1


Purtiulls 0[" till' t",t and s()m" f(l()tnole> 11;1\"(~ heen omitted,

AIt,.prl,\, Knopf. a
of Handol1\ Honse. lllC,

,........

('OllseqU(,llCt'S of these acts. Thus we call find out what stateslllen IHtvt' actu<11k
done, and fi'om the l<Jrest't'ahk cOlls('(flH'IICes of their acts we can surmise what
ohj("d ives might han' heell.

Yet ('xilminatioll of the hlds is not t'llough. To gin' meaning to the tilctllal raw
material of foreign polic\. we must approach political reality with a kind of rational
a lllap tllat sllggt'sts to liS thl~ possible l1lcanillgs of foreigll polic'\'. Jn
ollrsekes in the position of a statl'Small who I1ll1st !lIt'l?t 11 (,f'{'tain
prohlem of foreign policy ullder c(>rtain circUlllstanees. and \\'(' ask ourseh-es
the rational alternatiq:'s an hom which a slatc'slllan lllav choosl' who lIlllst Illt'et
this problem under thesc' circllmstanc'es (presuming :d\\,<l\,s that he ads ill a
rationalm<ll1ner), and which (' ..
llnder these
J

has

we read
ill terms of inlerest defined as powe]', we
thoughts and
himself:

ill action ane! creates


makes American. British. or
ratiollal continU!l1l1. by ,mel large eonsistent \\ithin
Illothes, preferences. amI intt'llectual and moral
cesshT statesmen. A realist theon' of inteJ'llational politics, theil,
two ])on111" .. LJl,>r';~'" the poncem with llloti\'es and the COllcert}

0\\11

to 1UH:'lgll lJOlJe\' e:\ClllS1H'I\'1II tile moti\'(,S


and decepthe. It is filtill' IWC'atise motin's are tilt, most illusi\{' of
data, distorted as the.\' arc. fn'<Jllentl: beyond n'eognilion. by
anel emotions of actor and ohst'IYer alike. Do we reall\' know ",h,{t 011 I'
lllothl'S are? AmI "'h;lt do \\T' kno\\ of tht' BIotin's of others?

Yet even if we had access to the real llloti\'es of statesllIpn, that


would help llS little in understanding fort'ign policies. and might wellle;ld us astray.
It is true that the knowledge of the statl'Smim'S 1I1Otiw's llla\'
liS 0111' illllOllg
many clues as to what the dir0'ction of his f()I'eign pnlk~.. lIlight !le. It cannot
us,
however, the one due by which to predid his t<)f(Jign poliCies. History shows IlO
exad and necessary corrt'latiOlI between the quality of Illothes amI the quality
policy. This is tme in both moral amI political terllls.
\Ve cannot cOJlclucle from the good intentions of a statesmall t hat his foreign
policies will be either ]]Jorally praiseworthy or p()liti('all~ slIC'ct'sslill. Judging his
motives, we can say that he \\ill nol intelltionally purslW policies that are
wrong, but we ean sav nothing about tilt" probahilit~ of thcir Sllccess, If we want to
know tlte moral and political qllalities of' his actions, we mllst know them, not ltis
motives, How oftcn have stntesmen been llloti\'ateci b;' the desire to inJl)rove the
world, and ended bv making it worse'~ And ho\\' often ban' the\'
alld ended Iw at'hieving something I\wv neilher expecteclllor
A renlist theory of in\el1latioual politics will also avoid the other popular {(tllac\'
equating the foreign policies of a statesman \\ltlt Ids philosophic or politiC'al SYIl1
palhies, and of dedUCing the fonner from the latter, Statesmen, (specialh-Illlcler con
temporary conclitions, ma\' wellmnke a lwhil of presenting their foreign nolides in
terms of thei r philosophic amI politieal s\'lllpathies in on Ipr to
for them. Yet they will distinguish with Lincoln I)('tween their
,
to think
act in terms of the national interest and their "pawlIIll{ \\ish." which is
to see their own llloral values and political pllllCipks realized tbnJllghollt til.. world.
Political realism does not require. nor does iI ('oll{lone, indifference to political ide,(ls
and moral plinciples, hut it reqnires inclct'd a shaq) distinction between tlte desirable
and tlk' pOSSible-between what is desirahle en'nwhere and at all timps anel what is
possible uncier the concrete circumstances of time and
II stands to reason that not all foreign poliCies h,m" always f()lIo\\'ecl so rational
an objective, and unemotional ,( course. The contingent elelllents of
prejudice, and subjecth'e prC'ferem'e, and of all the weaknesses of
which flesh is heir to, are bound to deflect foreign polkit's from their rational
cOllrse. Especiall," where foreign polilY is cOIHluctec\ Ullller the conditions of
deilloeratic controL the need to marshal popular emotions to the slI1)J)ort of for
canllot fail to impair the rationality of f()reign
of foreign policy which aims at rationalih 1I111st for the lime nell1g. as It we 1'(',
abstract frolll these irrational eklllents anci seek to paint a picture' of foreign policy
which presents the rational esst'llce to be found in e'perienc('. without the ('ontin
ue\iations from rationalit)' which are also f(mnd ill <
The differellce beh\'een intl'rnational politics ,tS it actually is amI a rational
them;.' derived froIll it is like the diffprellC'e behyeell a photograph and a painted
The photograph shows en'nthillg that can bt, seen by the naked e\'e; the
pOltrait does not show e\'e,:thing thai call Ill' seen b\ the naked eye. but it
or at least seeks to 5ho\\', one thing that the naked e\(' cannot St'''.': the
lmman essence of the persoll portnl~,t'(L
Political realism contains not on\\' a theoretical but also a normati\'e element It
knows that nolitieal realih is renletC' with ('ontinQencies anel systemic irrationalities

or

<

to the t)1)ical influences they exelt IIpon foreign poliey. Yet it shares with
the need, fi)r the sakf' of theoretical understanding, to stress the
rational elf'ments of politieal [eality; for it is these rational elements that make 1'f'<1I
intelligihle for theory. Political rf'alism presents the tiJt'ort'tical construct of a
rational foreign policy which experience can never completely achieve.
At the same time political realism eonsiders a rational f()reign policy to be
good foreign policy; for only a rational foreign policy minimizes risks and maxi
hoth with the moral precept of prudence and
requirement of success. Political realism wants the photographic
ture of the political world to resemble as much as possible its painted nlH'h. it
Aware of the ine\itable gap between good-that is, rational-foreign
policy as it actuall: is, political realism maintains not only that
foclls upon the rational elements of political reality, but also that
ought to be rational in \ lew of its own moral and practical pUlvoses.
Hence, it is no argument
the theory here presented that actual
policy does not or cannot live up to it. That argllment misuuderstands the intention
of this book, which is to presellt not an iudiscriminate description of political realinvalidated bv the
a rational theory of international politics. Far from
that, for instance, a perfect
realitv, it assumes that realitv,
and ~valuated as an approxil;1ation to an ideal
3. Realism assumes that its ke:' cOllC'ept 01 interest denned as power is an
'.'tive category which is universally valid, but it does not <'Hdow that ('o"r>o~"
a meaning that is fixed once and for all. The idea of interest is indeed
essence of polities and is unaffected I)\' the ci rcu III stances of timp
statement, born of the e>..veliences of ancient Greece, that
.
interests is the surest of bonds wbether between states or individuals" was taken up
in the nineteenth century lw Lord Salisburv's remark that "the onlv bond of union
that endures" among ll~ti(;I1S is 'the abs~nce of all clashing ill'tercsts." It was
erected into a general plineiple of government h:' George vVashington:
A small knowledge ofllUlllan nature \\ill ('omillCP lIS, that. with far thp greatest part of
mankind, interest is the governing pJilldple; and that almost pvery man is more or less,
Illlder its influence. Motiles of puhlic drtue may for a hnlf', or in
actuate mcn to the observance of a conduct purely disilltprpsted:
persc\'ering cOllf<mnity to the refined
themseil'cs sufficient to
obligatiollS of social duty. Fcw mcn arc capable of making a continual sacrificc of
,;ews of pIivate intercst. or ,Hh',mtage, to the common
It is \'ain to exdailll
the depnl\ity ofhumal1l1atllfP on this aC'count: the
is so. thc experienee of
pvery age and nation has pn)l'cd it and We' lllUSt in a great llleasnre,
tution of man, belorc we can make it otherwise. No institntioll, lIot
S1lll1pth'c truth of these' m<1,xims call sl1C'ceecl. 1

It was

ami

upon ill 011r

Interests (lllaterial and ideal), llot idpas, dominate


of the world" creatpd by tllesp ideas han'
the tracks on which the

bv Mm, \Yeber's o!Jservanoll:


the actions of men. YPt the
sf'lyecl as switches df'i Fr

actions l11ming.

,.....

Yet the kind of interest dc'terInining political action in a particular period of


history depends upon the political and cultural context within which
policy
is formulated. The goals that might be pursued by nations in their foreign policy can
run the whole gamut of ohjectives allY nation has ever purslled or might
same observations apply to the COllCt'pt of power. Its content and the lllHIl

its LIse are determined by the political and cultuml em iron l11el1t. Power may
comprise anything that establishes and maintains the control or man over man.
Thus power cov{'rs all social relationships whic:h servt' that end, from
lenee to the most subtle psychological ties by which one mind
mtion of lllall by man, both when it is
constitutional
as in \Vestem
when it is that untamed and barbaric force which finds its laws in nothing but its
own strength and its sole justification in its aggrandiz{'llIent.
Political realism docs not assume that the cont('mporar:' conditions under
and the ever present
cannot be changed. The balance of power, tor
element of all pluralistic societies, as the authors of
knew; vet it is capahle of operating, as it does in the
conditions of relative stability and j1eaeE''ul eonfliC't. If the
riSE' to tll{'se conditions can be duplicated on the inter
national scene, similar conditions of stability amI peace will then pre\'tiil there, ,15
they have over long stretches of history among certain nations.
vVllat is true of the 2"eneral eharacter of international relations is also true of
the nation state as the
point of reference of
\Vhilt, the realist
believes that interest is the
political action mllst be judged and directed, the
('Ol1nection
between interest and the nation state is a proclnct
hound
to disappear in the courSe of his tor\'. Nothing
realist position militates
the political world into natioll
against the assumption that the present
different character. more ill
states will he replaeed by larger units of a
with the technical potentialities and
requirements of the cOlltelllpo
rar)' world.
The re~llist parts company 'with other schools
question of how the contemporar\' world is to be tmnsf(mnecl. The realist is per
suaded that
transformation can be achie\'ed only through the workmanlike
of the nerennial forces that 11<l\'e shaped the past as they will tht'
we can bring about that transfonna
its own
tion
that
lav\'s into aCCOllnt.
4. Political realism is aware of the moral significance of political aetiOll. It is
also aware of the ineluctable tension between
moral command and the
requirements of sllccessful political action. And it is unwilling to
obliterate that tension and thus to obfuscate both the moral and the political issue
by making it appear as though the stark facts of politics were llloralk more
actually are, amI the 111 0 ral law less exacting than it act II ally is.

Realislll maillhlins that Imin'rsal moral prineiples cannot be applied to the


actiOllS of stall'S ill their ahstract IlniHo rsal formulation, bllt tllHt th<c'v must be fil

th rough the C'OIHTt'te circulllstances of tillK' and plaee. The iI~di\idllal ma~'
Il)r himself: "Fiat jl/stitia, pamt 111111/(1118 (Letjllstke Iw dOlle, eH'!l irthe world
p~rish)," hut the statc" has no right to sa;-' so in the nallle OfthOSl' who are in its cart'.
Hild statc' must judgE' political action by llllh'ersal moral
as that of liberh. YE't while the i!l(lhidual has a moral right to
in defense of such a moral principle. the statE' has 110 right to let its moral disappro
batioll of til' in/i'ingernellt of Iiherty gE't in the way of successful politieal action,
1)\ the moral principle ofn<ltional sunivaJ. There can be no
without prudence; that is. without cOllSiclE'ration of the political conse
of seE'llIinglv moral action, Rpalisll1, then, considers prudence-the
weighing of the consequences of alternative political actions-to be

virtue in J)olitics. Ethics in the ahstract

political ethics judges action

philosophy knew this. and so

SHY

I do the WIY best I kIlO\\' ho\\', the I'er\ best I C1III. and I mean to keep doing so uutil
elld. Ifthp end hrillgs lilt:' Ollt all right. what is said against me won't amount to
the emll)Jings me out mung, ten angels s\\,(c'ming I was light would make no

,5. Political

tll('

H'f'uses to identif)' the moral aspirations


moral laws that gOWI1l the universe. As it
so it distinguishes between tmth and
few have lwen able to resist the temptation
O\Vl1 particular aspirations and actions ill the moral
know that nations are SlI hject to the momllaw is one thing, while to
''''ith certainty what is good and e\il in the relations among nations is quite another.
There is a world of dinerencE' between the belief that allnatiol1S stand uncleI'
of Cod, inscmtable to the
hlasphemous comictiOI1
God is alwavs on ones side and
onesdf C<lnl1ot fail to he
bv God al~o.
The
between a pmtieular nationalism and the counsels
of Providence is
for it is that yerv sin of nride against which
the Greek tragedians
and ruled,
equation is also
.
in judgement which, in the blindness of
civilizations-in the l1a111(' of moml prinCiple,
On tilt' other hand. it is exactly the concept of interest defined in terllls of
saves us from both that moral E'Xct'SS and that political folly. For if WE'
at all nations, our 0\\11 induded. as political entities pursuing their respective
interests ddined in terms of powe!: we are able to do justicE' to all of them. And we
are able to do justice to all of them in a dual sellSE': \Ve are able to jtidge
nations as we judge our own and, hadng judged thelll in this fashion, we are then
caoablf' of pursuing policies that respect the intt'rests of other nations, while pro
and DrOlnoting those of our own. Moderation in policy cannot f~lil to reflect
of moral . ,

6. The differeu(:(', then, between political realism and ot her sehools of thought
is
and it is profound, H owevel' ll1lJ(:h tl1(' theory of political realism may han'
been misunderstood ami lllisintcl1)J"('ted. tilere is lIO gUillsavinl! its clistillcti\'e intel
and moral attitude to matters,
the political realist maintains the autonomy of the political
sphere, as the economist, tllp hm'!er, the l1loralist maintain theirs. He thinks in
ter!l1S of interest defined as power, as the eeonOlllist thillks in terms of interest
as wealth; the lawyer, of the conformity of (1('ti011 with legal rules; the
moralist, of the conform it\' of action with moral principles. The t:'collOlnist asks.
"How does this policy aHed tltt' wealth of society, or a seglll(>nt of it?" The la\\'!'er
asks: "Is this policy in accord with the rules oflaw'~" The moralist asks: "Is this
accord \vith moral principles"?" And the politleal realist asks: "How does this
alTeet thc power of the natioll?" (Or of the j'pdpral gO\'ernnwnt.
of the parly, of agriculture. as the cast' may be.)
The political realist is not unmvare of the existE'IlCe and relevance of staudards
other than political ones. As political realist. he cannot but subordillate
standards to those of politics, And he parts company \\ith other schools
standards of thollILht appropriate to other spllt'res upon the
when
political
its su!l\'E'r
This realist defense
sion by other modes of thought does not
other modes
impOitallee of
aSSigned its proper sphere and function, Political realism is based upon a pluralistiC
conception of human nature. Real mall is a composite of "economic mall,"
ieal man, "llloralllHlI1," "rpligiol1s IlHIl1," etc. A lmlll who was llothin2: hut
man" would be a heast. for h(' would he colllpletely
man who was nothing hut "moral man" wOlild be a
pleteh-Iacking in prlldence. A man who was nothing but "religions man" would be
a saint, for he would be completE'l~ lacking ill worldl\' desires.
Recognizing that these di/'f('rent fi1Cets of human nature exist. political
recognizes that in order to lllHlerstand 011(' of them ol1e has to deal with it 011
man:' I must for the
its own terms. That is to say, if I \\'al1t to understand
nature and deal with its reli
from
other aspects of
to the
as if it were the
standards of thought
existence of other standards and
of man. What is true of tllis htcet
ern economist for instance, would conceh'e of his seiellce and its relations to other
.
.
sllch a proCE'SS of
tioll from other standards of thought. and the dE'\'elopmellt of one
its subject mattt:'f, that E'collomics has dew'loped as all autonomOliS theory of the
(:'('"ol10111ic actiyities of man, To contrihute to a similar de\'elopl1wnt ill the Geld of
is indeed the purpose of political realism.
It is in the nature of thillgs that a theory of politics ",bieb is based IIpon such
principles \\ill not meet with unanimous appro\'al-nor does. for that matter, such a
foreign nolie\'. For theon and nolic\' alike rnn cmmt('r to two trends in om culture

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