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Glimmer of a new Leviathan: total war in the realism of Niebuhr, Morgenthau and Waltz

Glimmer of a new Leviathan: total war in the realism of Niebuhr, Morgenthau and Waltz
Glimmer of a new Leviathan: total war in the realism of Niebuhr, Morgenthau and Waltz
The Second World War put an end to America’s historical isolation from international power politics, and so also to the long-standing American defiance of the Realist ideology that shaped Old World affairs. The advent of transoceanic military technologies, now wielded by menacing states such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, made Americans more receptive to the Realist idea that international relations is about fear and survival. The American Realists Reinhold Niebuhr, Hans Morgenthau, and Kenneth Waltz developed a modern strategic framework that sought to introduce American leaders and the educated public to these harsher realities of international politics. They emphasized a clear-eyed, cold approach to the play of interests, egotism, and the drive for power in world affairs—a struggle in which the threat of major war remained, in the end, the only legitimate currency.
Yet even as Americans began to accept this new Realism, thermonuclear weaponry threatened to make it absurd. A major war to defend the nation might result in its total destruction; a thermonuclear war leading to the death of hundreds of millions of citizens seemed an unusual way to preserve American survival. This dilemma became central to the Realist understanding of Niebuhr, Morgenthau, and Waltz. How could a Realist approach to international politics and war be sustained in the face of possible global annihilation?
0231123485
Columbia University Press
Craig, Campbell
1c824971-80cc-4f67-b49b-7716cedde680
Craig, Campbell
1c824971-80cc-4f67-b49b-7716cedde680

Craig, Campbell (2003) Glimmer of a new Leviathan: total war in the realism of Niebuhr, Morgenthau and Waltz , Columbia University Press, 216pp.

Record type: Book

Abstract

The Second World War put an end to America’s historical isolation from international power politics, and so also to the long-standing American defiance of the Realist ideology that shaped Old World affairs. The advent of transoceanic military technologies, now wielded by menacing states such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, made Americans more receptive to the Realist idea that international relations is about fear and survival. The American Realists Reinhold Niebuhr, Hans Morgenthau, and Kenneth Waltz developed a modern strategic framework that sought to introduce American leaders and the educated public to these harsher realities of international politics. They emphasized a clear-eyed, cold approach to the play of interests, egotism, and the drive for power in world affairs—a struggle in which the threat of major war remained, in the end, the only legitimate currency.
Yet even as Americans began to accept this new Realism, thermonuclear weaponry threatened to make it absurd. A major war to defend the nation might result in its total destruction; a thermonuclear war leading to the death of hundreds of millions of citizens seemed an unusual way to preserve American survival. This dilemma became central to the Realist understanding of Niebuhr, Morgenthau, and Waltz. How could a Realist approach to international politics and war be sustained in the face of possible global annihilation?

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Published date: 2003

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Local EPrints ID: 35045
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/35045
ISBN: 0231123485
PURE UUID: 052407c2-f26b-4417-acec-4ea36dab4b9a

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Date deposited: 19 May 2006
Last modified: 11 Dec 2021 15:26

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Author: Campbell Craig

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