1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910808811103321

Autore

Specter Matthew G (Matthew Goodrich), <1968->

Titolo

The Atlantic realists : empire and international political thought between Germany and the United States / / Matthew Specter

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Stanford, California : , : Stanford University Press, , [2022]

©2022

ISBN

1-5036-2997-X

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (336 pages)

Disciplina

327.101

Soggetti

Political realism - History - 20th century

Balance of power - History - 20th century

Imperialism - History - 20th century

International relations - Philosophy

Germany Foreign relations 20th century

United States Foreign relations 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction : the Bildungsroman of empire -- Seeing like a world power : the German-American synthesis -- Realism before "realism" : geopolitics in the interwar Atlantic -- Carl Schmitt's practice of imperial comparison in the 1930s and 40s -- The making of a realist : Wilhelm Grewe in the Third Reich -- Geopolitics : death and rebirth of an Atlantic tradition during World War II -- An American power politics : Hans Morgenthau and the making of a realist orthodoxy, 1940-1960 -- Realism's crisis and restoration : West Germany, 1954-85.

Sommario/riassunto

In The Atlantic Realists, intellectual historian Matthew Specter offers a boldly revisionist interpretation of "realism," a prevalent stance in post-WWII US foreign policy and public discourse and the dominant international relations theory during the Cold War. Challenging the common view of realism as a set of universally binding truths about international affairs, Specter argues that its major features emerged from a century-long dialogue between American and German intellectuals beginning in the late nineteenth century. Specter uncovers an "Atlantic realist" tradition of reflection on the prerogatives of empire



and the nature of power politics conditioned by fin de siècle imperial competition, two world wars, the Holocaust, and the Cold War. Focusing on key figures in the evolution of realist thought, including Carl Schmitt, Hans Morgenthau, and Wilhelm Grewe, this book traces the development of the realist worldview over a century, dismantling myths about the national interest, Realpolitik, and the "art" of statesmanship.