SEVENTH EDITION

POLITICS AMONG NATIONSThe Struggle forPower and Peace

Hans J. MorgenthauLate Albert A. Michelson Distinguished ServiceProfessor of Political Science and Modern Historyat the University of Chicagoand Late Director of the Center for theStudy of American Foreign Policy at the University of Chicago

Revised by

Kenneth W. ThompsonDirector, Miller Center of Public AffairsUniversity of Virginia

and

W. David ClintonAssociate Professor of Political ScienceTulane University

MeGrain/Hill

Higher Education

Boston Burr Ridge, IL Dubuque, IA Madison, Wl New York San Francisco St. LouisBangkok Bogota Caracas Kuala Lumpur Lisbon London Madrid Mexico CityMilan Montreal New Delhi Santiago Seoul Singapore Sydney Taipei Toronto

• I Contents

PREFACE v

FOREWORD xvii

PART ONE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

A REALIST THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 3Six Principles of Political Realism 4

THE SCIENCE OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 17Understanding International Politics 17

Different Approaches 17Limitations to Understanding 19

Understanding the Problem of International Peace 24

PART TWO INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AS A STRUGGLE FOR POWER 27

3 POLITICAL POWER 29What Is Political Power? 29

As Means to the Nation's Ends 29Its Nature: Four Distinctions 30

The Depreciation of Political Power 35Two Roots of the Depreciation of Political Power 38

Nineteenth-Century Philosophy 39The American Experience 39

The Science of Peace: Contemporary Utopianism 41

4 THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER: POLICY OF THE STATUS QUO 50

5 THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER: IMPERIALISM 56What Imperialism Is Not 56Economic Theories of Imperialism 59

The Marxist, Liberal, and "Devil" Theories of Imperialism 59Criticism of These Theories 61

Different Types of Imperialism 64Three Inducements to Imperialism 65

VII

viii Contents

Victorious War 65Lost War 65Weakness 66

Three Goals of Imperialism 66 'World Empire 67Continental Empire 67Local Preponderance 68

Three Methods of Imperialism 69Military Imperialism 69Economic Imperialism 70

How to Detect and Counter an Imperialistic Policy 74The Problem of Policy: Containment, Appeasement, Fear 75The Problem of Detection 79

B THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER: POLICY OF PRESTIGE 83Diplomatic Ceremonial 84Display of Military Force 89Two Objectives of the Policy of Prestige 90Three Corruptions of the Policy of Prestige 93

7 THE IDEOLOGICAL ELEMENT IN INTERNATIONAL POLICIES 97The Nature of Political Ideologies 97Typical Ideologies of Foreign Policies 100

Ideologies of the Status Quo 100Ideologies of Imperialism 102Ambiguous Ideologies 106

The Problem of Recognition 108

PART THREE NATIONAL POWER 111

8 THE ESSENCE OF NATIONAL POWER 113What Is National Power? 113Roots of Modern Nationalism 116

Retreat from Nationalism: Apparent and Real 116Personal Insecurity and Social Disintegration 118

9 ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER 122Geography 122Natural Resources 124

Food 124Raw Materials 126

The Power of Oil 127Industrial Capacity 131

Military Preparedness 133Technology 133Leadership 135Quantity and Quality of Armed Forces 136

Population 137Distribution 137Trends 139

National Character 140Its Existence 140The Russian National Character 142National Character and National Power 145

National Morale 147Its Instability 147The Quality of Society and Government as Decisive Factors 149

The Quality of Diplomacy 152The Quality of Government 156

The Problem of Balance Between Resources and Policy 156The Problem of Balance Among Resources 157The Problem of Popular Support 158Domestic Government and Foreign Policy 162

10 EVALUATION OF NATIONAL POWER 163

The Task of Evaluation 163Typical Errors of Evaluation 166

The Absolute Character of Power 166The Permanent Character of Power 168The Fallacy of the Single Factor 170

Geopolitics 170

Nationalism 171

Militarism 173 • '

PART FOUR LIMITATIONS OF NATIONAL POWERThe Balance of Power 7 77

11 THE BALANCE OF POWER 179

Social Equilibrium 179Balance of Power as Universal Concept 179Balance of Power in Domestic Politics 181

Two Main Patterns of the Balance of Power 184The Pattern of Direct Opposition 184The Pattern of Competition 186Korea and the Balance of Power 189

12 DIFFERENT METHODS OF THE BALANCE OF POWER 190

Divide and Rule 190

ountents

Compensations 191Armaments 192Alliances 193

The General Nature of Alliances 193Alliances vs. World Domination 198Alliances vs. Counteralliances 200

The "Holder" of the Balance 204

13 THE STRUCTURE OF THE BALANCE OF POWER 209Dominant and Dependent Systems 209Structural Changes in the Balance of Power 211

14 EVALUATION OF THE BALANCE OF POWER 213The Uncertainty of the Balance of Power 214The Unreality of the Balance of Power 218

The Balance of Power as Ideology 222The Inadequacy of the Balance of Power 224

Restraining Influence of a Moral Consensus 224Moral Consensus of the Modern State System 228

PART FIVE LIMITATIONS OF NATIONAL POWER:International Morality and World Public Opinion 233

15 MORALITY, MORES, AND LAWAS RESTRAINTS ON POWER 235

16 INTERNATIONAL MORALITY 240The Protection of Human Life 241

Protection of Human Life in Peace 241Protection of Human Life in War 244Moral Condemnation of War 247International Morality and Total War 248

Universal Morality vs. Nationalistic Universalism 251Personal Ethics of the Aristocratic International 251Destruction of International Morality 255Destruction of International Society 257Victory of Nationalism over Internationalism 259Transformation of Nationalism 261Human Rights and International Morality 265

17 WORLD PUBLIC OPINION 270Psychological Unity of the World 272Ambiguity of Technological Unification 273The Barrier of Nationalism 275

PART SIX LIMITATIONS OF NATIONAL POWER International Law 281

18 THE MAIN PROBLEMS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 283The General Nature of International Law 283The Legislative Function in International Law 286

Its Decentralized Character 286Interpretation and Binding Force 289

The Judicial Function in International Law 292Compulsory Jurisdiction 293

The Optional Clause 294International Courts 297The Effect of Judicial Decisions 299

The Enforcement of International Law 300Its Decentralized Character 300Treaties of Guaranty 303Collective Security 304

Article 16 of the Covenant of the League of Nations 305Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations 309The Veto 312The "Unitingfor Peace" Resolution 314

19 SOVEREIGNTY 317The General Nature of Sovereignty 317Synonyms of Sovereignty: Independence, Equality, Unanimity 319What Sovereignty Is Not 321How Sovereignty Is Lost 322

Majority Vote in International Organizations 326Is Sovereignty Divisible? 329 ,

PART SEVEN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD 335

20 THE NEW MORAL FORCE OF NATIONALISTIC UNIVERSALISM 337Nationalism, Old and New 337The Struggle for the Minds of Men 339Three Principles of Propaganda 341

21 THE NEW BALANCE OF POWER 347Inflexibility of the New Balance of Power 347

Numerical Reduction of Great Powers 347The Bipolarity of Power 349The Tendency Toward a Two-Bloc System 350

xii Contents

Disappearance of the Balancer 351The Problem of a "Third Force" 352

Disappearance of the Colonial Frontier 354The Colonial Revolution 357The Decline of the West 358Potentialities of the Bipolar System 363

The Possibility of Its Breakup 363Continuation of the Cold War 364The New Diplomacy of Movement 366Detente and Peaceful Coexistence 370

22 TOTAL WAR 377War of Total Populations 379War by Total Populations 382War Against Total Populations 383The Mechanization of Warfare 384

The Mechanization of Weapons 385The Mechanization of Transportation and Communications 388

War for Total Stakes 389Total Mechanization, Total War, and Total Dominion 392

PART EIGHT THE PROBLEM OF PEACE Peace Through Limitation 399

23 DISARMAMENT 401The Problem of Peace in Our Time 401The History of Disarmament 403

The Failures 404The Successes 407

Four Problems of Disarmament 408The Ratio 408

The World Disarmament Conference 412

Disarmament Negotiations Since the Second World War 413

Standards of Allocation 414Does Disarmament Mean Reduction of Armaments? 417Does Disarmament Mean Peace? 419

Arms Control in the Nuclear Age 423

24 SECURITY 434Collective Security 434

The Italo-Ethiopian War 440The Korean War 441

An International Police Force 443

25 JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT 446The Nature of the Judicial Function 446

Contents xiii

The Nature of International Conflicts: Tensions and Disputes 448Pure Disputes 449Disputes with the Substance of a Tension 449Disputes Representing a Tension 450

Limitations of the Judicial Function 452

26 PEACEFUL CHANGE 455Peaceful Change Within the State 455Peaceful Change in International Affairs 459

Article 19 of the Covenant of the League of Nations 460The Charter of the United Nations 461

27 INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENT 463The Holy Alliance 463

History 463Government by the Great Powers 465Dual Meaning of the Status Quo 466Peace, Order, and the National Interest 467The Concert of Europe 470

The League of Nations 471Organization 472Dual Meaning of the Status Quo: France vs. Great Britain 474Three Weaknesses of the League of Nations 476

Constitutional Weakness 477

Structural Weakness 478

Political Weakness 480

28. INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENT: THE UNITED NATIONS 483The United Nations According to the Charter 483

Government by Superpowers 483Undefined Principles of Justice 486

The United Nations—Political Reality 487The Rise and Decline of the General Assembly 487New Procedures 498

The United Nations and the Problem of Peace 500

PART NINE THE PROBLEM OF PEACE Peace Through Transformation 503

29 THE WORLD STATE 505Conditions of Domestic Peace 506

Suprasectional Loyalties 506Expectation of Justice 508Overwhelming Power 509The Role of the State 510

The Problem of the World State 512

xiv Contents

Two Schools of Thought 513The Triple Test of Popular Support 514

Two False Solutions 516World Conquest 517The Examples of Switzerland and the United States 518

30 THE WORLD COMMUNITY 521The Cultural Approach: Unesco 521

Cultural Development and Peace 523Cultural Unity and Peace 523International Understanding and Peace 524

The Functional Approach 526The Specialized Agencies of the United Nations 526The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 530The European Communities 532Agencies for Economic and Technical Assistance 534

PART TEN THE PROBLEM OF PEACE Peace Through Accommodation 537

31 DIPLOMACY 539Four Tasks of Diplomacy 539Instruments of Diplomacy 541

Symbolic Representation 542Legal Representation 543Political Representation 543

The Decline of Diplomacy 545The Development of Communications 545The Depreciation of Diplomacy 546Diplomacy by Parliamentary Procedures 547The Superpowers: Newcomers to Diplomacy 548The Nature of Contemporary World Politics 549

32 THE FUTURE OF DIPLOMACY 551How Can Diplomacy Be Revived? 551

The Vice of Publicity 551The Vice of Majority Decision 554The Vice of Fragmentation 556

The Promise of Diplomacy: Its Nine Rules 558Four Fundamental Rules 559Five Prerequisites of Compromise 563

Conclusion 566

APPENDIX A UPDATING REALISM FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 569

THE FALSE PROMISE OF INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 569by John J. Mearsheimer

Contents xv

REALIST CONSTRUCTIVISM 585by J. Samuel Barkin

THE ENGLISH SCHOOL VS. AMERICAN REALISM:A MEETING OF MINDS OR DIVIDED BY A COMMON LANGUAGE? 601

by Richard Little

MORGENTHAU: POLITICS AS THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER 607

by Ashley Tellis

AN IRAQ RETROSPECT 6 1 6by Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr.

NEW DEPARTURES IN THE PHILOSOPHIES OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 621by General Brent Scowcroft

DID THE UNITED STATES WIN THE COLD WAR? 622

by Ambassador David D. Newson

APPENDIX B CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS 6 2 8

BIBLIOGRAPHY 649

HISTORICAL GLOSSARY 6 7 3

INDEX 6 8 9

MAPS

Political Map of the World, 1985

Political Map of the World, 2004

CHARTS

Political Issues Considered by General Assembly and Security Council 491

The United Nations System 529