The Tragic Vision of Politics: Ethics, Interests and Orders

by Richard Ned Lebow

Overview

Is it possible to advocate ethical policies to preserve national security? Contrary to some beliefs, Richard Ned Lebow demonstrates that ethics are conducive to the pursuit of national interests. Reinterpreting the writings of key figures in the history of "realpolitik", he argues that national interests are framed in the language of justice, and indicates the dangers arising from the unilateral exercise of American power in the post-Cold War world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521827539
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/30/2003
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.06(d)

About the Author

Richard Ned Lebow is the James O. Freedman Presidential Professor of Government at Dartmouth College. He is the author, co-author or editor of over eighteen books, many of them about international conflict and its management. He is currently President of the International Society of Political Psychology.

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.

Editorial Reviews

"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

From the Publisher