The Tragic Vision of Politics
The Tragic Vision of Politics
Is it possible to preserve national security through ethical policies? Richard Ned Lebow seeks to show that ethics are actually essential to the national interest. Recapturing the wisdom of classical realism through a close reading of the texts of Thucydides, Clausewitz and Hans Morgenthau, Lebow argues that, unlike many modern realists, classic realists saw close links between domestic and international politics, and between interests and ethics. Lebow uses this analysis to offer a powerful critique of post-Cold War American foreign policy. He also develops an ontological foundation for ethics and makes the case for an alternate ontology for social science based on Greek tragedy's understanding of life and politics. This is a topical and accessible book, written by a leading scholar in the field.
- Asks whether ethics has a place in international politics, and criticises US foreign policy
- Accessibly written for a range of readers across subjects
- Lebow is a leading US scholar of IR, political psychology and international history
Reviews & endorsements
"Ned Lebow has written a book of exceptional reach, insight, learning and ambition. Thucydides provides a template and inspiration for a tradition of classical realism which Lebow elaborates through highly original, richly contextualized readings of Clausewitz and Morganthau. Lebow's critique is political as well as theoretical and methodological. He offers detailed examples and historical evidence to illustrate classic realist arguments..." J. Peter Euben, Duke University
"This is an important book. Brilliantly conceived and argued, Lebow analyzes in the original the texts of three "classical" realists-- Thucydides, Clausewitz and Morgenthau-- to argue for a more humanistic and compassionate American foreign policy. Ethical behavior and justice, he argues, are not incompatible with Realpolitik. Fragmentation and compartmentalization have built a firewall between the humanities and social sciences. Lebow calls for a balance, a synthesis. He may, in his own words, be like a "salmon swimming upstream," but in his case, the journey is worth the effort." Holger H. Herwig, University of Calgary
Product details
December 2003Hardback
9780521827539
424 pages
229 × 152 × 27 mm
0.79kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Nixon in Hell
- 2. Tragedy and politics
- 3. Thucydides and war
- 4. Thucydides and civilization
- 5. Carl von Clausewitz
- 6. Hans J. Morgenthau
- 7. The wisdom of classical realism
- 8. Running red lights and ruling the world
- 9. Tragedy and scholarship.
