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Morgenthau and Fear

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Realism and Fear in International Relations

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Abstract

Chapter 3 evaluates the emotion of fear in Morgenthau’s publications. First, it unpacks his conception of this emotion through an in-depth scrutiny of his writings. This is followed by an evaluation of the theoretical role of fear in his framework. The empirical segment detects and categorizes the causes and effects of fear in Morgenthau’s empirical analysis of international politics and evaluates whether they match the theoretical role he assigns this emotion in his classical realism. Finally, the logical aspect of fear in Morgenthau’s classical realism is assessed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 78, emphasis added.

  2. 2.

    Ibid., 327, emphasis added.

  3. 3.

    Ibid., 79, emphasis added.

  4. 4.

    Morgenthau 1960b, 305, emphasis added.

  5. 5.

    Morgenthau 1946b, 114, 185; Morgenthau 1950b, 78; Morgenthau 1950a, 173.

  6. 6.

    Morgenthau 1950b, 78; Morgenthau 1950a, 173.

  7. 7.

    Morgenthau 1962e, 147.

  8. 8.

    Morgenthau 1948b, 160.

  9. 9.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 155, emphasis added.

  10. 10.

    Cheung-Blunden and Blunden 2008; Harrington 2003.

  11. 11.

    Morgenthau 1954b, 4.

  12. 12.

    Morgenthau 1973a, 10, 15.

  13. 13.

    Ibid., 5. How Morgenthau’s distinction between politics and ethics affects the normative aspirations of his theory is not explained.

  14. 14.

    Morgenthau 1946b, 192; Morgenthau 1973a, 14. As Morgenthau himself puts it: ‘[t]his realist defense of the autonomy of the political sphere against its subversion by other modes of thought does not imply disregard for the existence and importance of these other modes of thought. It rather implies that each should be assigned its proper sphere and function. Political realism is based upon a pluralistic conception of human nature. Real man is a composite of ’economic man,‘ ’political man,‘ ’moral man,‘ ’religious man,‘ etc…. Recognizing that these different facets of human nature exist, political realism also recognizes that in order to understand one of them one has to deal with it on its own terms. That is to say, if I want to understand ’religious man,‘ I must for the time being abstract from the other aspects of human nature and deal with its religious aspect as if it were the only one…It is exactly through such a process of emancipation from other standards of thought, and the development of one appropriate to its subject matter, that economics has developed as an autonomous theory of the economic activities of man. To contribute to a similar development in the field of politics is indeed the purpose of political realism.’

  15. 15.

    Morgenthau 1962c, 77.

  16. 16.

    Ibid., 79.

  17. 17.

    Morgenthau 1946b, 198; Morgenthau 1960a, 102.

  18. 18.

    Morgenthau 1973a, 7–8.

  19. 19.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 13; Morgenthau 1978, 11.

  20. 20.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 13.

  21. 21.

    Morgenthau 1967a, 9.

  22. 22.

    Morgenthau 1960a, 29.

  23. 23.

    Morgenthau 1967a, 8–9.

  24. 24.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 21–22. As we will see in later parts of this chapter, the inclusion of status-quo states is logically incompatible with the premises of Morgenthau’s own theory.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., 50.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., 125.

  27. 27.

    Ibid., 175.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., 134.

  29. 29.

    Ibid., 273.

  30. 30.

    Ibid., 155.

  31. 31.

    Ibid., 130.

  32. 32.

    Morgenthau 1960a, 23.

  33. 33.

    Ibid., 256–270.

  34. 34.

    Morgenthau 1948a, xiii–xv.

  35. 35.

    Morgenthau 1962c, 408, 411.

  36. 36.

    Ibid., 414.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., 434.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., 435.

  39. 39.

    Ibid., 497–498.

  40. 40.

    Ibid., 513, 520, 536.

  41. 41.

    Morgenthau 1946b, 212, 220, 236.

  42. 42.

    Morgenthau 1978, 4–15.

  43. 43.

    At this point, it might be objected that the drivers of peace should also be considered as central elements of Morgenthau’s theoretical framework. As we have already seen, however, Morgenthau dismisses most paths to peace such as disarmament, collective security, judicial settlement, peaceful change and international government. He considers the presence of great statesmen the best hope for international peace but they are few and far in between in Morgenthau’s world. Otherwise, his portrayal of international politics would have been far more benign.

  44. 44.

    Morgenthau 1954b, 4.

  45. 45.

    Morgenthau 1945b, 13, 16, emphasis in original.

  46. 46.

    Jütersonke 2010, 13 Also see,; Buzan 1996, 50; Williams 2005, 5; Wolfers 1962, 83–84.

  47. 47.

    Morgenthau 1954b, 5.

  48. 48.

    Morgenthau 1978, 8.

  49. 49.

    Morgenthau 1967a, 9.

  50. 50.

    Gilpin 2011, 16; Schmidt 2012, 112; Schmidt 2011, 92.

  51. 51.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 125.

  52. 52.

    Little 2007, 91 Also see,; Lebow 2010, 25; Levy 2004, 29.

  53. 53.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 21.

  54. 54.

    Griffiths 1992, 9.

  55. 55.

    Craig 2007; Wallace 1999, 75–76; Zimmer 2011.

  56. 56.

    Holsti 2000, 119–120.

  57. 57.

    Crawford 2009, 272.

  58. 58.

    Johnson 1996, 243.

  59. 59.

    Ibid.

  60. 60.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 78, emphasis added.

  61. 61.

    Ibid., 78–79, emphasis added.

  62. 62.

    Ibid., 64–80, 116–119, 184–208.

  63. 63.

    Ibid., 327, emphasis added.

  64. 64.

    Ibid., 155, emphasis added.

  65. 65.

    Ibid., 327, emphasis added.

  66. 66.

    Ibid., 21–22.

  67. 67.

    Ibid., 43.

  68. 68.

    Ibid., 43–46.

  69. 69.

    Ibid., 45.

  70. 70.

    Ibid., ix.

  71. 71.

    Ibid., 45–46.

  72. 72.

    Misperception presumes uncertainty since there would be no room for misperception in the condition of absolute certainty in the present or in the future. Uncertainty is however not explicit in Morgenthau’s discussions on this issue.

  73. 73.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 45.

  74. 74.

    Ibid., 138.

  75. 75.

    Ibid., 165.

  76. 76.

    Ibid., 377.

  77. 77.

    Ibid., 138.

  78. 78.

    Morgenthau 1950b, 78; Morgenthau 1950a, 173–174; Morgenthau 1962e, 126.

  79. 79.

    Morgenthau 1954a, 160; Morgenthau 1962d, 218; Morgenthau 1962f, 325, emphasis added.

  80. 80.

    Morgenthau 1962e, 147, 319.

  81. 81.

    Morgenthau 1950b, 78, emphasis added.

  82. 82.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 46, emphasis added. Also, see ibid, 45.

  83. 83.

    Ibid., 272; Morgenthau 1948b, 159, emphasis added.

  84. 84.

    Morgenthau 1971, 433, emphasis added.

  85. 85.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 104; Morgenthau 1967b, 427.

  86. 86.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 165, 376.

  87. 87.

    Ibid., 377.

  88. 88.

    Morgenthau 1967b, 433.

  89. 89.

    Morgenthau 1949a, 160; Morgenthau 1960c, 305–306; Morgenthau 1962b, 223; Morgenthau 1962d, 67, 74; Morgenthau 1970, 179.

  90. 90.

    See, for example, Morgenthau 1938b, 562; Morgenthau 1948a, 60; Morgenthau 1958d, 16; Morgenthau 1960c, 317, 322, 329; Morgenthau 1962c, 387; Morgenthau 1962f, 194–195, 321; Morgenthau 1964a, 23; Morgenthau 1965a, 124; Morgenthau 1970, 75, 439.

  91. 91.

    Morgenthau 1973b, 5, emphasis added.

  92. 92.

    Morgenthau 1951b, 6; Morgenthau 1954c, 84; Morgenthau 1961b, 4; Morgenthau 1962d, 129; Morgenthau 1962f, 158; Morgenthau 1965b, 3.

  93. 93.

    Morgenthau 1971, 430.

  94. 94.

    Morgenthau 1957c, 105; Morgenthau 1962a, 15; Morgenthau 1962d, 29, 44; Morgenthau 1962f, 156–157; Morgenthau 1964a, 23; Morgenthau 1971, 430; Morgenthau 1972a, 132.

  95. 95.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 155.

  96. 96.

    Ibid., 45.

  97. 97.

    Mearsheimer 2001c, 408–409 n. 35; Wolfers 1962, 84–86.

  98. 98.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 155.

  99. 99.

    Ibid.

  100. 100.

    Spirtas 1996.

  101. 101.

    Herz 2003, 412.

  102. 102.

    Herz 1950, 157.

  103. 103.

    Herz 1951, 4.

  104. 104.

    Morgenthau 1973a, 8.

  105. 105.

    Williams 2005, 183.

  106. 106.

    Koskenniemi 2002, 437.

  107. 107.

    Freyberg-Inan 2004, 68.

  108. 108.

    Morgenthau 1973a, 7, emphasis added.

  109. 109.

    Griffiths 1992, 69–70.

  110. 110.

    Morgenthau 1967a, 7.

  111. 111.

    Morgenthau 1948a, 78, 327.

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  1. Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Arash Heydarian Pashakhanlou

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Pashakhanlou, A.H. (2017). Morgenthau and Fear. In: Realism and Fear in International Relations . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41012-8_3

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