When it comes to political insight, Hans Joachim Morgenthau is indeed one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. As we read his books, we recognize the phenomenon of a truly giant mind, meeting, as he faced the great issues of American foreign policy during the Cold War - as well as many internal issues - extremely worrisome circumstances, which demanded responsibility and consciousness from their policy-makers. For their decisions and the way they behaved could generate potentially disastrous consequences for the whole of humankind.

It has been already 21 years since Morgenthau has left us a legacy of various articles and books on politics, of which Politics Among Nations is certainly his masterpiece. As someone who sought 'to speak truth to power', his thoughts will still last much longer among us, in spite of any discussions about cold war, states or nations, as well as Aristotle has survived the disappearance of the Greek polis, and Machiavelli, the unification of Italy (!). The secret that unites the three thinkers is that they make it through the surface of their objects of analysis into the essence of political reality, accounting for the configurations and problems which the many questions and dilemmas of power ensue. There are indeed truths about the human condition which remain, among the problems of the day, recognizable to eyes which may be very distant. Precisely this is what makes great thinkers.

Of course, every man cannot but be a son of his own days, expressing reality as he sees it in terms which are currently understandable to, and shared by, his own fellow-men. And pointing out to the (re)discovery of those recognizably human, supposedly eternal, traces of his own condition among the present configurations of his era is therefore a very important characteristic of good biographical work.

It is bearing these observations in mind that I highly recommend Hans Morgenthau's Intellectual Biography, written by Swiss professor Christoph Frei, as an indispensable work for those wishing to understand the task of putting together the pieces of a system of political thought which, at some point in the early 1930's, started being dubbed 'realism', but only effectively reached public in the late 1940's. Before this book, even those who had taken the chance to go through most of Morgenthau's work in English had never researched his early papers, which contain all the seeds of his later intellectual developments. Mr. Frei was the first one to study these papers. And he has also gone through a few thousands (yes, thousands) of other never seen documents, diaries and letters. He provides us a detailed reconstruction of the first decades of Morgenthau's life, points out to the first time when concepts and ideas were put to paper, and provides a detailed and lively account of the difficult conditions under which these concepts and ideas were produced.

A sense for nuance is one of the most important features of a good academic work. In this sense, professor Frei's Intellectual Biography is a brilliant example of an investigation which, in its presentation and reflections, combines a thorough knowledge of the primary sources from which his subject has drawn, only made possible by an extensive trilingual research in English, German, and French, with a careful characterization of the context in which Morgenthau's intellectual development - the Weimar Republic - took place.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part deals biographically with Morgenthau's life story, his studies in different cities in Germany, his acquaintance with, and perceptions of, the several ongoing schools of social sciences which developed in those times, and the beginning of his professional career. As the specter of totalitarianism approached the old continent with its somber colors, we watch his difficulties first in Europe as a Jew, then trying to emigrate to America, and later on in America as a German and a Jew, struggling first for survival and next to retake his intellectual projects. This first part leads us up to the great success he was able to achieve after the publication of Politics Among Nations, and deals, this time in lesser detail, with the second half of Morgenthau's life as a successful political scientist, trying to contribute to the American context and experience during the Cold War.

As the second part of the book unfolds, we go back to the early decades of the twentieth century and embark on a philosophical trip side by side with the experience of disillusionment, of which the young Morgenthau, who by means of a lone and ineffective philosophical reflection on the future of morals and civilization in a time of decay, could not help but falling pray. Here we see the formation of his Weltanschauung, his most important intellectual disputes, and the criticisms from him to others and also from others to him. In this part, we approach the substance of his intellectual reflections on the contours of man and society. The author braces himself with his subject, by letting him speak out his frankest reflections on the limits of science, on the political sphere, on the place and importance of power as an irremovable reality among human beings. Frei strikes us with his very clever insight, by making Immanuel Kant's four philosophical questions: "What is man?; What am I allowed to know? What should I expect?; and What should I do??" the skeleton of his investigation. He ends his book by pointing out to how Morgenthau's realism is in fact sober idealism, or "transcendent idealism" as he puts it.

After a few years without English translation, the German version of this book (beautifully written in the original, for those who can read in German) accounts, for the first time, for Morgenthau's steps in Europe and America, and his struggles and observations about himself and the world around; it unveils his important intellectual sources - I personally found the chapter on his existential and philosophical dialogue with Nietzsche the most fascinating one - and the formation of his worldview, which was the very core of that thing not that many agree - I do -, but which he called a theory.

Those who wish to deepen their knowledge of what is true political realism on the make must read this book.

Hans Morgenthau is, together with E.H.Carr, among the key 20th century thinkers who studied international relations and developed what is today called classical realism (as opposed to structural- or neo-realism - see Kenneth Waltz). Classical realism claims an ancient ancestry beginning with the History of the Peloponesian War by Thucydides, and including thinkers like Maciaveli and Clausewitz, as well as Ralf Niebur. Briefly, the proponents of this line of thinking claim that 1) states are the only actors of significance in international relations; 2) that because there is no single world government, international relations are characterized by self-help- if states wish to survive they should ever be ready for war; 3) 'power' in this sense becomes both a means (to survival) and an end in itself -- states struggle to aggrandize their power; 4) because of all this, international relations are primarily a realm of conflict, not cooperation; 5) this sorry state of affairs stems from the evil nature of man which is essentially unchangeable (see St. Augustine, City of God, for a forceful argument in this vein). Given all this, Morgenthau claims that any politician who does not take the above points seriously is acting under dangerous delusions. Because most statesmen do act in this way, he, says, reading his book will allow the reader to be able 'to look over the shoulder' of any leader and understand their decisions. Whether one agrees or not with these views, the book is indispensible for any serious student of international politics. For further interest one may wish to read both scholars who have advanced the realist tradition in international relations in new directions (see esp. Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics; Robert Jervis, Perception and Misperception..., and System Effects; Jack Snyder, Myths of Empire; and Michael Doyle, Ways of War and Peace) and critics of this tradition (esp. Robert Keohane, Neorealism and Its Critics, After Hegemony, and (with J.Nye) Power and Interdependence, as well as David Baldwin, ed., Neorealism and Neoliberalism). I admit that the book is densely written, but with the right roadmap, it is an enjoyable read. In fact, if you wish to find it even more useful, you may begin with E.H.Carr, The Twenty Years' Crisis, which is elegantly written, a real pleasure to read, and which is a very clear statement of the main arguments of realism.

This book was a "standard" for any International Relations Major in the 1970's or 80's, despite the fact that the first printing was in 1948. Don't expect this book to go into an in depth analysis of any current facts, because it doesn't. But the six rules of Political Realisim seem to apply as well today (in 1998) as they did when I originally read it, in 1985. If you are in college taking international relations courses, and haven't read this book, buy it and read it yourself, trust me, it will help you make sense of everything else, and it might just impress a professor or two.

I was taught politics initially by a professor from the University of Chicago who studied under Han J. Morgenthau, who used Morgenthau's book, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace as his primary text. Later, when I taught politics, I found that this text was a bit too advanced for the calibre of beginning undergraduate students (my, how the standards, they slippeth...) but was useful for a third-year course in international relations.

This book is heavy in history and philosophy as well as a more 'pure' political science; these are not disconnected subjects, and should not be treated as such. Morgenthau was one of the giants of international thought, having trained many (directly or through texts) of the last generation of political scientists, who rarely have a neutral opinion on Morgenthau. Very much an adherent of the Real Politick, and addresses the question of framework and theory at the beginning of the text:

Morgenthau, throughout this work, strives to work against the idea that international politics in particular, and politics more generally, can be derived simply from philosophical or abstract points, and must be grounded in the imperfect and very human dealings at hand. He outlines six principles which guide this political realism:

1. There are objective laws that govern politics, rooted in human nature.
2. The main force driving international politics is the concept of interest defined in terms of power.
3. This key concept is universally valid and objective, but does not have the same meaning fixed once and for all.
4. Political realism is aware of the moral significance of political action.
5. Political realism refuses to equate the moral principles of any given nation or time with the overall moral laws that govern the universe.
6. Political realism maintains a separation and integrity of intellectual substance, while recognising other frameworks and the inter-relatedness of politics with other fields.

Morgenthau goes through a lengthy discussion of these principles as the underpinning of his theories, before embarking on the 'nitty-gritty' of international politics. He includes an essay on scientific methodology as it applies to politics, and the limitations of this methodology.

Morgenthau then proceeds to discuss politics under the following broad headings:

- International Politics as a Struggle for Power
This includes a look at political power, imperialism in different guises, status quo issues, prestige, and political ideologies. Take imperialism as an example: Morgenthau examines the reasons for imperialistic tendencies (victorious war, lost war, and weakness, perceived or real); the ultimate goals of imperialism (which could be global empire and hegemony, continental empire, or merely local preponderance); and the differing methods of imperialism (military, economic, cultural).

- National Power
In this section, Morgenthau discusses military, political, population, national morale, natural resource, and quality of government issues to determine national power structures, and examines the problems attendant with nationalism. He also discusses the typical errors of political analysis, those of mistaking the absolute character of power, the permanent character of power, and the fallacy of single factors (geopolitics, nationalism, militarism, etc. in isolation).

- Limitations of National Power: Balance of Power
- Limitations of National Power: International Morality and World Public Opinion
- Limitations of National Power: International Law
Morgenthau proceeds to discuss in these sections the various factors which hold nations in check. The first section encompasses balance of power issues, including models of competition and direct opposition; different methods of balance of power; and the uncertainties and unrealities of balances of power. The next section discusses the strength of philosophical underpinnings and morality as a deterrent, as well as the tension between personal and political morality, national and international morality, and universal moralism and nationalistic universalism. The final section here discusses legislative, judicial, and enforcement aspects of international law, and the limitations of international law due to sovereignty issues, as well as executive limitations.

- International Politics in the Contemporary World
For this section, we have to rely mostly on Kenneth Thompson's reconstruction of Morgenthau's thought, given the necessity for updates. The issues discussed earlier are brought into relief as a framework for discussion of balance of power, the disappearance of colonialism, the relative declines of the established powers, and the issues surrounding the century in which total war has become the standard.

- The Problem of Peace: Peace through Limitation
- The Problem of Peace: Peace through Transformation
- The Problem of Peace: Peace through Accommodation
These three final sections examine issues such as disarmament, security and international policing, judicial settlements, alliances (looking at the successes and failures of past alliances and organisations), culminating in a candid discussion of the United Nations, both in theoretical (charter) terms and actual practice. Transformative issues include possibilities of world statism, world communalism, and interlocking spheres of cooperation and unity. The final section deals with diplomacy, as both a real and a declining force in politics today.

Morgenthau is as likely to pull an example from Thucydides as he is from World War II. This makes this a difficult book for the typical undergraduate, who today does not have the historical frame of reference to appreciate such examples. Morgenthau's reasoning is subtle and elegant, and still of great influence today. One might count the likes of Kissinger and Thatcher among those who would generally adhere to Morgenthau's thesis.

Not at all for the faint hearted, but a text that will yield treasure to the bold who would explore a text that is indeed formative of much of diplomatic and political thought from the 1940s through the 1980s, hence having an impact on events and organisations still important today.