Morgenthau "Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace" [KCS Book Review] No.1

Written by Hans Morgenthau, translation overseen by Yoshihisa Hara Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace Vol 1. (Published December 2013, Iwanami Shoten)
Japanese title: 『国際政治―権力と平和 上』（岩波書店、2013年12月）
Ryusei Nosaka (Research Assistant, M1)


The international community today faces numerous developments that threaten to destabilize the existing international order: Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the rise of China, rapidly expanding its military capabilities, the return of the Trump administration advocating for "Peace through Strength", and the increasingly turbulent situation in the Middle East. Since the end of World War II, the liberal international order has emphasized ideals and values such as freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, yet we are now witnessing a revival of might-makes-right power politics, driven by "the survival of the fittest" logic.

Amid this global shift, liberal democracies such as Japan are required not only to continue defending liberal values and principles, but also to squarely confront and understand the essence of the power politics that is expanding in reality. In this regard, Hans Morgenthau's Politics Among Nations, which systematically and theoretically explains the essence of international politics as a "struggle for power", famously declaring that "power is always the immediate aim" and emphasizing "prudence" as the supreme virtue in politics, is a classical work offering crucial insights for understanding today's unsettled world order.

Hans Morgenthau, a profound scholar of international politics, was a German-born Jewish intellectual who initially built his career as a legal scholar before fleeing Nazi Germany and relocating to the United States. Based primarily at the University of Chicago in the U.S., he became a central figure in developing postwar international political studies in both academia and policy. Politics Among Nations is his most representative classic. I will highlight its key components and implications in the following overview, focusing selectively on parts that are essential to understanding the work, due to space limitations. 

First, Part I, consisting of Chapters 1 and 2, provides a foundational explanation of international political theory using the concept of realism. Chapter 1, presents the six basic principles of political realism that underlie Morgenthau's worldview: (1) Politics is governed by objective laws that have their roots in human nature; (2) statesmen always act to expand national power and interest; (3) the definition of national power or interest is shaped by the particular circumstances of each state; (4) prudence, or the careful consideration of the political consequences of an action, is the highest virtue; (5) no nation's moral aspirations can be equated with the moral laws governing the universe; and (6) political realism asserts the autonomy of the political sphere through the concept of interest defined in terms of power. Chapter 2 then explains how to look at international politics as an academic discipline. It clarifies that the aims of the book are to (1) identify and understand the forces that determine political relations among states, and (2) analyze how those forces interact and shape international political relationships and institutions. Morgenthau simultaneously underscores the inherent limitations in researching international politics, given that it is a study of complex and ambiguous empirical phenomena. He concludes Part I by arguing that it is vital to understand the forces driving international politics, particularly in the United States which was then in a position of overwhelming global advantage in the world where all-out nuclear war had emerged as a threat. 

Second, Part II, comprising Chapters 3 through 7, addresses the essence of international politics through the lens of the "struggle for power". The opening of Chapter 3 is precisely where Morgenthau's thought earns the label "human nature realism", as the philosophy appears most vividly in this section. He writes there that "International politics, like all politics, is a struggle for power… power is always the immediate aim." Both international and domestic politics, he argues, are composed of human beings who instinctively pursue power, therefore it is inevitable that international politics assumes the character of power politics, in which states strive for superior power. Building on this premise of international politics, in the following chapters 4 to 6, Morgenthau surveys the three types of policies a political actor can take: (1) the preservation of power (policy of the status quo), (2) the expansion of power (imperialism), and (3) the demonstration of power (policy of prestige). Drawing on historical examples, Morgenthau carefully illustrates how struggles for power manifest in the real world. Chapter 7 then discusses how ideologies are often mobilized to justify state policies, noting the difficulty of identifying the true policy. 

Finally, Part III, consisting of Chapters 8 through 10, concludes the book with an examination of the nature of power pursued in international politics. Chapter 8 begins by addressing how we should understand the phenomenon of a state seeking power, when the state is ultimately an imagined community of a collective of individuals. Morgenthau explains from a historical perspective, the rationale of how individual interest becomes one and the same as the national interest. Then in Chapter 9, the most frequently cited section in international affairs scholarship, is where the author identifies the nine elements of national power: (1) geography; (2) natural resources (food and raw materials); (3) industrial capacity; (4) military preparedness (technology, leadership, and the quantity and quality of the armed forces); (5) population (distribution and trends); (6) national character; (7) national morale; (8) quality of diplomacy; and (9) quality of government. Based on this establishment, Chapter 10 discusses the challenges and caveats of measuring and evaluating these elements. Morgenthau particularly warns against three common contemporary pitfalls, which are geopolitics that absolutize geographical explanation, nationalism that tends to explain national power solely through national character, and militarism that overemphasizes (especially quantitative) military strength.

At a moment when the struggle for power in international relations is laid bare, renewed attention is being directed to the value of Politics Among Nations for deepening our understanding of global dynamics. Morgenthau's human nature realism, which analyzes politics primarily from what Kenneth Waltz terms the "first image," has long been subject to criticism from structural realists who emphasize the international system over human nature. Yet in today's world—where political leaders expressing unrestrained desires for power are increasingly inclined toward the use of military force—the significance of revisiting Morgenthau's arguments is undeniable. We would do well to engage with this book carefully once more and learn from its claims and implications.

As "the struggle for power" in interstate relations lies visibly exposed today, the value of this book is once again coming into focus as a means of gaining deeper insight into global political dynamics. Morgenthau's "human nature realism", which centers analysis on what international political scientist Kenneth Waltz calls the "first image", has long been the target of criticism from the perspective of structural realism, which prioritizes the international system. Yet, as political leaders driven by an unrestrained desire for power increasingly turn to the use of military force, the significance of revisiting Morgenthau's arguments is unmistakable. Is it not time for us to reengage with this classical work thoughtfully, to learn from its claims and implications once more?