David Sacks

Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations. Taiwan, China, Hans Morgenthau. Opinions my own; RTs/follows not endorsements.

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

“Hans Morgenthau would argue that the Trump administration misunderstands the very concept of power, which should not be equated with military might and must instead be understood as a complex psychological relationship,” argues @DavidMSacks1.
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Hurst Publishers @HurstPublishers]

In the UK, pick up your copy of 'The Realist: The Life and Ideas of Hans Morgenthau' by @DavidMSacks1 at 20% discount w/code REALIST20 here:
👉 https://t.co/1nqtchzXbJ

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

What guidance would Hans Morgenthau, the godfather of realism, offer the United States today?
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

The Trump administration has misread Hans Morgenthau’s writings on the importance of power, writes @DavidMSacks1. “Far from romanticizing power, Morgenthau saw the need to tame it.”
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Henry Holt & Company @HenryHolt]

🌍 Happy pub day to #TheRealist by @DavidMSacks1: the first biography of Hans Morgenthau, the political philosopher who pioneered realism―the approach to foreign policy that guided the U.S. through the Cold War and explains today’s world.

Read Now: https://t.co/L7vA2H3a6Y

[Council on Foreign Relations @CFR_org]

Hans Morgenthau escaped Nazi Germany and became one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century. He pioneered realism, an approach to international relations that guided the United States throughout the Cold War.

However, Morgenthau did not champion every U.S. exercise of power and criticized U.S. policy during the Vietnam War. In his new book The Realist, CFR expert @DavidMSacks1 details Morgenthau's life and work and explores how his ideas can guide policymakers as they tackle today's major challenges.

Learn more: https://t.co/27V5NxhpjU

[louis charbonneau @loucharbon]

Great article by @DavidMSacks1 on the legacy, wisdom & misreading of the ideas of Hans Morgenthau, the "godfather of realism".

This sentence resonates: "American democracy, far from serving as 'a light to attract strangers,' is fast becoming a cautionary tale."

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

“Hans Morgenthau’s hard-nosed reputation has long obscured the moral core of his realism,” writes @DavidMSacks1. “He was unequivocal that power must be a means to an end.”
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

“The Trump administration’s belligerence betrays its weakness: its acts of aggression around the world are confessions of its inability to shape events through other means,” writes @DavidMSacks1.
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

Hans Morgenthau, the godfather of realism, “was committed to preserving American power as a check on the violence and bigotry he experienced,” writes @DavidMSacks1. “Yet he feared that U.S. overreach would hollow out the foundations of that power.”
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

As the United States navigates renewed great-power competition, it should return to the foundations of realism, argues @DavidMSacks1.
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

What guidance would Hans Morgenthau, the godfather of realism, offer the United States today?
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

Read @DavidMSacks1 on how the political scientist Hans Morgenthau introduced realism to Americans—and how his theory could help guide Washington through this moment in U.S. history.
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Patrick M. Cronin @PMCroninHudson]

https://t.co/I9SAO9dUnt

@DavidMSacks1 reminds us that Hans Morgenthau understood that power shapes political outcomes, but power divorced from moral purpose, domestic legitimacy, and restraint ultimately becomes self-defeating.

“He placed power at the center of his analysis. But he never romanticized it.”

“Power must be a means to an end—‘an attempt to realize moral values through the medium of politics.’”

“Ancient Greece and Rome are remembered because their power served a purpose that outlived their empires: Athenian democracy and philosophy, and Roman law and republican government.”

“Misadventures abroad could boomerang, weakening American democracy and societal cohesion and, ultimately, undermining the country’s international standing.”

“Real power ... lies in the ability to influence a country through consent, not coercion. ... The use of force signifies the abdication of political power rather than its culmination.”

#HansMorgenthau #politicalrealism #powerandmorality #strategicrestraint #USforeignpolicy

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

The Trump administration has misread Hans Morgenthau’s writings on the importance of power, writes @DavidMSacks1. “Far from romanticizing power, Morgenthau saw the need to tame it.”
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

“The United States has lost its purpose, and unless it rediscovers it, discrete foreign policy successes will be irrelevant.” @DavidMSacks1 argues that Washington must return to the foundations of realism:
https://t.co/YBoGLrjjfm

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

If the political scientist Hans Morgenthau were to give Washington advice today, he would “warn against foreign entanglements that undermine American democracy, which remains the wellspring of the country’s power,” writes @DavidMSacks1.
https://t.co/EPsmZSQUtZ

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

“If Hans Morgenthau were to witness this moment in U.S. history, he would conclude that the country had overlearned his lessons about the importance of power and erred in equating it with the use of force,” writes @DavidMSacks1.
https://t.co/EPsmZSQUtZ

[Emma Ashford @EmmaMAshford]

If Morgenthau were to witness this moment in U.S. history... he would see a need to rebuild normative constraints on the exercise of power. And he would warn against foreign entanglements that undermine American democracy."

https://t.co/alO0SYhdbL

[Albert B. Wolf @Abwolf1648]

One of the most important things to remember about realists such as Hans Morgenthau is they opposed many of America’s more foolish wars after World War II, such as #Vietnam, #Iraq, and #Iran. Starting as a lawyer practicing international law, Morgenthau grew disillusioned with its inability to restrain states’ power-maximizing tendencies. Like Machiavelli and some other classical realists, he emphasized the importance of restraint in international politics, but unlike neorealists (such as Waltz), saw morality as the source of it rather than incentives provided by anarchy.

***

Thoughtful piece by @DavidMSacks1 (@CFR_org) on the brilliant postwar scholar who authored one of the two most important realist works in the past 80-100 years - @ForeignAffairs: https://t.co/ns4elNQtHO