 Cover | |
| Author | Matthew G. Specter |
|---|---|
| Subject | History, politics, European history, intellectual and cultural politics |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Publisher | Stanford University Press |
Publication date | February, 2022 |
| Pages | 336 |
| ISBN | 9781503629967 |
The Atlantic Realists: Empire and International Political Thought Between Germany and the United States is a book by American historian, academic, and author Matthew G. Specter. [lower-alpha 1] It was published in 2022 by Stanford University Press. [1]
In a 2022 interview with The Review of Democracy's editor Ferenc Laczó, Specter discussed his interest in Carl Schmitt, Hans Morgenthau, and Wilhelm Grewe, highlighting their relevance to understanding political thought. Specter critiqued the myth of realism as timeless wisdom, emphasizing its historical context and ideological dimensions. He underscored the transatlantic comparisons shaping realist thought, challenging narratives of American innocence and exceptionalism. [2]
The book explores the evolution of realism in international political thought through challenging conventional interpretations. Specter traces the roots of realism to a transatlantic dialogue between American and German intellectuals from the late 19th century, stressing its development amidst major historical events like world wars and the Cold War. He examines key figures such as Carl Schmitt, Hans Morgenthau, and Wilhelm Grewe, revealing the complex interplay of geopolitical analysis and national interest shaping realist perspectives. The book delves into the nuances of realist thought, including its entanglement with imperial aspirations and its reception in postwar American academia. Specter's comparative approach highlights the shared influences between German and American realists, offering insights into the intellectual and moral legacies of realism in international relations, and concluding that realist thought, in the past and in contemporary literature, is an "ideological justification for empire". [3]
In her review of the book published by Foreign Affairs, and comparing it with Jonathan Kirshner's An Unwritten Future, Emma Ashford described Specter's study of realism as "an impressive contribution" but found the lessons that he draws as "less convincing". While Ashford agreed with Specter that the classical realists of the 1950s sourced their ideas from earlier amoral or "less ethical" theories of international relations, she contested the idea that such borrowing would sabotage their arguments. The reviewer noted that many thinkers and philosophers "reach to past for inspiration and support" and that one shouldn't blame classical realists for seeking a "longer, more diverse lineage for their ideas". [4]
In his review, Adam Tooze compared Mearsheimer's study of offensive realism to that of Specter's detailed historical analysis. Mearsheimer traces back the roots of his theory to classic thinkers such as Thucydides and Machiavelli, whereas Specter draws a line back from the late 19th century's naval historians and geographers such as Friedrich Ratzel and Alfred Mahan, to influential German politicians and legal theorists such as Karl Haushofer and Carl Schmitt, and then to classic texts of American realism, revealing the "dark roots in the imperialist era" of realism. [5]
Antonio Cerella the book illuminating and essential, as it challenges the traditional narrative of realism's origins in international politics. Specter's historical analysis exposes the roots of realism in imperial aspirations and power dynamics between Germany and the United States. Cerella praised Specter's meticulous research, which reveals the interconnectedness of geopolitical thought across the Atlantic. Cerella also acknowledged the book's broader implications for understanding power relations and hopes it will contribute to a less obscured future in international relations, particularly in the face of growing threats of war. [6]
Steven J. Brady judged the book as thought-provoking and wrote:
Specter has written a truly excellent book that invites the reader to question their preconceived notions about a subject with which they probably felt familiar. Specter seeks to provide a genealogy of realism. In doing so, he posits that realism is a historical artifact, rather than a value-neutral, objective tool of analysis based on the ancient and immutable laws of international relations. Specter deftly demonstrates the ways in which realism developed through a two-way interchange between Germany and the United States, as well as how the American definition of “geopolitical” realism as being particularly German prevented Americans from confronting the similarities of their imperial history with that of their Atlantic interlocutor. [7]
In his review of the book, Joshua Derman highlighted Specter's approach to studying 20th century's American realism in international relations as a "German-American coproduction" instead of viewing it as a German import like other historians did, namely Nicolas Guilhot in his 2017 book After the Enlightenment: Political Realism and International Relations in the Mid-Twentieth Century. [8]
Davis Ellison emphasized praised Specter's for deeply studying and stressing the impact of thinkers like Hans Morgenthau, Edmund Walsh, Carl Schmitt, Wilhelm Grewe, and Nicholas Spykman on shaping international relations as an academic discipline, on American politicians and diplomats, and on Post-War American foreign policy with America as the most powerful and influential player in global affairs. [3]
Duncan Kelly praised Specter for challenging conventional narratives of realism in political theory, particularly in the context of German and American political thought. Specter argues that the roots of realism lie in the concept of Weltpolitik rather than Realpolitik, highlighting the intertwined development of Atlantic Realists and their influence on international relations. However, Kelly suggested that recent scholarship has uncovered the exclusionary nature of realist thought, prompting a reevaluation of its imperial origins and implications for contemporary political teaching. [9]
In her review of the book, Michaela Hoenicke Moore wrote:
This is an important contribution by a scholar of modern German intellectual history to the growing literature (Udi Greenberg, Nicolas Guilhot, Daniel Bessner, and, from a different angle, Stephen Wertheim) on the elective affinities and entangled German and American roots of Realism, here defined as that International Relations (IR) school which offers guidance on geo-politics and world power. [10]
Felix Rösch acknowledged Specter's significant contribution to understanding the history of International Relations, particularly in highlighting the interconnections between German and American scholars from the 1920s to the 1950s. While praising Specter's comprehensive approach, Rösch also questioned the characterization of all scholars discussed as realists, suggesting a nuanced examination of their intellectual and personal connections would be more appropriate. [11]
F. Peter Wagner praised the book for its historical-critical reconstruction of the development of Realism in International Relations/Foreign Policy Analysis (IR/FPA). [12]
In his review, Michael C. Williams emphasized its significance in challenging conventional narratives of international political theory. While the reviewer appreciated the book's critique of realism's connections to geopolitics, he expressed reservations about completely rejecting realism, suggesting that there may still be valuable resources within it. [13]
Neorealism or structural realism is a theory of international relations that emphasizes the role of power politics in international relations, sees competition and conflict as enduring features and sees limited potential for cooperation. The anarchic state of the international system means that states cannot be certain of other states' intentions and their security, thus prompting them to engage in power politics.
International relations (IR) are the interactions among sovereign states. The scientific study of those interactions is also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns all activities among states—such as war, diplomacy, trade, and foreign policy—as well as relations with and among other international actors, such as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), international legal bodies, and multinational corporations (MNCs). There are several schools of thought within IR, of which the most prominent are realism, liberalism and constructivism.
In international relations, power is defined in several different ways. Material definitions of state power emphasize economic and military power. Other definitions of power emphasize the ability to structure and constitute the nature of social relations between actors. Power is an attribute of particular actors in their interactions, as well as a social process that constitutes the social identities and capacities of actors.
Hans Joachim Morgenthau was a German-American jurist and political scientist who was one of the major 20th-century figures in the study of international relations. Morgenthau's works belong to the tradition of realism in international relations theory; he is usually considered among the most influential realists of the post-World War II period. Morgenthau made landmark contributions to international relations theory and the study of international law. His Politics Among Nations, first published in 1948, went through five editions during his lifetime and was widely adopted as a textbook in U.S. universities. While Morgenthau emphasized the centrality of power and "the national interest," the subtitle of Politics Among Nations—"the struggle for power and peace"—indicates his concern not only with the struggle for power but also with the ways in which it is limited by ethical and legal norms.
John Joseph Mearsheimer is an American political scientist and international relations scholar. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago.
In international relations, the security dilemma is when the increase in one state's security leads other states to fear for their own security. Consequently, security-increasing measures can lead to tensions, escalation or conflict with one or more other parties, producing an outcome which no party truly desires; a political instance of the prisoner's dilemma.
The Twenty Years' Crisis: 1919–1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations is a book on international relations written by E. H. Carr. The book was written in the 1930s shortly before the outbreak of World War II in Europe and the first edition was published in September 1939, shortly after the war's outbreak; a second edition was published in 1945. In the revised edition, Carr did not "re-write every passage which had been in someway modified by the subsequent course of events", but rather decided "to modify a few sentences" and undertake other small efforts to improve the clarity of the work.
Realism, a school of thought in international relations theory, is a theoretical framework that views world politics as an enduring competition among self-interested states vying for power and positioning within an anarchic global system devoid of a centralized authority. It centers on states as rational primary actors navigating a system shaped by power politics, national interest, and a pursuit of security and self-preservation.
Polarity in international relations is any of the various ways in which power is distributed within the international system. It describes the nature of the international system at any given period of time. One generally distinguishes three types of systems: unipolarity, bipolarity, and multipolarity for three or more centers of power. The type of system is completely dependent on the distribution of power and influence of states in a region or globally.
Offshore balancing is a strategic concept used in realist analysis in international relations. It describes a strategy in which a great power uses favored regional powers to check the rise of potentially-hostile powers. This strategy stands in contrast to the dominant grand strategy in the United States, liberal hegemony. Offshore balancing calls for a great power to withdraw from onshore positions and focus its offshore capabilities on the three key geopolitical regions of the world: Europe, the Persian Gulf, and Northeast Asia.
Robert Gilpin was an American political scientist. He was Professor of Politics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University where he held the Eisenhower professorship.
In international relations theory, the concept of anarchy is the idea that the world lacks any supreme authority or sovereignty. In an anarchic state, there is no hierarchically superior, coercive power that can resolve disputes, enforce law, or order the system of international politics. In international relations, anarchy is widely accepted as the starting point for international relations theory.
The balance of power theory in international relations suggests that states may secure their survival by preventing any one state from gaining enough military power to dominate all others. If one state becomes much stronger, the theory predicts it will take advantage of its weaker neighbors, thereby driving them to unite in a defensive coalition. Some realists maintain that a balance-of-power system is more stable than one with a dominant state, as aggression is unprofitable when there is equilibrium of power between rival coalitions.
Defensive neorealism is a structural theory in international relations that is derived from the school of neorealism. The theory finds its foundation in the political scientist Kenneth Waltz's Theory of International Politics in which Waltz argues that the anarchical structure of the international system encourages states to maintain moderate and reserved policies to attain national security. In contrast, offensive realism assumes that states seek to maximize their power and influence to achieve security through domination and hegemony. Defensive neorealism asserts that aggressive expansion as promoted by offensive neorealists upsets the tendency of states to conform to the balance of power theory, thereby decreasing the primary objective of the state, which they argue to be the ensuring of its security. Defensive realism denies neither the reality of interstate conflict or that incentives for state expansion exist, but it contends that those incentives are sporadic, rather than endemic. Defensive neorealism points towards "structural modifiers," such as the security dilemma and geography, and elite beliefs and perceptions to explain the outbreak of conflict.
Theory of International Politics is a 1979 book on international relations theory by Kenneth Waltz that creates a structural realist theory, neorealism, to explain international relations. Taking into account the influence of neoclassical economic theory, Waltz argued that the fundamental "ordering principle" (p. 88) of the international political system is anarchy, which is defined by the presence of "functionally undifferentiated" (p. 97) individual state actors lacking "relations of super- and subordination" (p. 88) that are distinguished only by their varying capabilities.
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics is a book by the American scholar John Mearsheimer on the subject of international relations theory published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2001. Mearsheimer explains and argues for his theory of "offensive realism" by stating its key assumptions, evolution from early realist theory, and its predictive capability. An article adapted from the book had previously been published by Foreign Affairs.
Neoclassical realism is a theory of international relations and an approach to foreign policy analysis. Initially coined by Gideon Rose in a 1998 World Politics review article, it is a combination of classical realist and neorealist – particularly defensive realist – theories.
Liberal institutionalism is a theory of international relations that holds that international cooperation between states is feasible and sustainable, and that such cooperation can reduce conflict and competition. Neoliberalism is a revised version of liberalism. Alongside neorealism, liberal institutionalism is one of the two most influential contemporary approaches to international relations.
Classical realism is an international relations theory from the realist school of thought. Realism makes the following assumptions: states are the main actors in the international relations system, there is no supranational international authority, states act in their own self-interest, and states want power for self-preservation. Classical realism differs from other forms of realism in that it places specific emphasis on human nature and domestic politics as the key factor in explaining state behavior and the causes of inter-state conflict. Classical realist theory adopts a pessimistic view of human nature and argues that humans are not inherently benevolent but instead they are self-interested and act out of fear or aggression. Furthermore, it emphasizes that this human nature is reflected by states in international politics due to international anarchy.
Charles Louis Glaser is a scholar of international relations theory, known for his work on defensive realism, as well as nuclear strategy. He is the founding director of the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, as well as a professor of political science and international affairs. His best-known book, Rational Theory of International Politics: The Logic of Competition and Cooperation received an Honorable Mention for 2011 Best Book from the International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association.
