The intertwined strands of realism and power

Hans Morgenthau championed the cause of realism in International Politics. As a leading figure during the mid twentieth century in the study of realism and power in the international political arena, Morgenthau's work was celebrated and widely agreed upon. Therefore, it is crucial to examine the chapter "A realistic theory of International Relations" in order to wrap our selves around the gist of realism as it pertains to international politics.

Citing the two schools which he are prevalent in society, he labels the first as the school that 'believes that a rational and moral political order, derived from universally valid abstract principles, can be achieved here and now', while the other school, to which Morgenthau associates with, believes in the fact that 'the world, imperfect as it is from the

rational point of view, is the result of forces inherent-in human nature, to improve the world one must work with-those forces, not against them'.

In his work, Morgenthau presents six ideas of political realism as they apply to international politics. The second of those ideas, is perhaps what I feel the most apt in describing the events that transpire in the modern international political arena.

The second point links the concepts of interest and power. It argues that statesman are singularly interested in the attainment of power, and cites the example of history since time immemoral to reinforce this idea. If we peer around us today, we can attribute the actions of a lot of states to this very singular idea of attaining their 'interest' through extending their 'power'. The examples of America entering Iraq, Afghanistan stands as testament to this very thought.

This was by far the most interesting principle out of the six because it breaks itself from the constraints of abstraction, and presents a very hard hitting, measurable and observable aspect of international relations.