Session 6: Idealist Internationalism and the Security Dilemma

Qui attriste le moraliste: The A-chiliastic Heel of Political Idealism

John Hertz presents a vivid picture of the weakness of political idealism in comparison to political realism. Though he is critical of the utter cynicism of the classical realism, his energies were mostly devoted to pointing out the flaws of idealism, which takes an inexorably utopian view of the international political system.

Political idealism is of the view that the international system will eventually evolve into one of peace and humanitarianism. It takes a chiliastic view of world events; a view which hopes that a new and infinite era of change is just around the corner. This approach has been critiqued by Hertz as a failed one, as he draws comparisons with the air of revolutionism in Europe in the aftermath of the French Revolution. A large number of statesmen endorsed this idea but as Hertz pointed out; the revolutionary spirit lasted only a decade or so and died with the arrival of Napoleon. Similarly, the socialist revolution of the proletariat as advocated by Lenin never caught on in the rest of the world. There was no eventual brotherhood of socialist nations as championed by Lenin. In fact, a huge blow to the idealist narrative is the fact that this air of utopianism was hijacked by the stark realism of Stalinism.

Classical realism, however, is too extreme and cynical of human nature so Hertz proposes a balance between the two in the shape of Realist Liberalism. Realist Liberalism assumes the security dilemma and power struggle as its founding principle but it appropriates the Idealist ideas of socialism and humanitarianism in achieving a greater international good. Idealism on its own is too chiliastic and any chiliasm when analyzed through the lens of world events crumbles in front of the Realpolitik. A recent example of such a world event was the feeling of irrational hope and freedom roused during the so-called Arab Spring. There were ‘democratic revolutions’ which were touted as a victory for democracy throughout the Middle East and were full of idealism without any thorough analysis of the actual political climate. The idealist bubble surely burst when the wave of freedom has resulted in a bloody civil war and violence in Egypt, Syria and Libya.