The 'Early' Morgenthau. A Comment on the Intellectual Origins of Realism

Abstract

Hans J. Morgenthau is the most important representative of the 'realist' school in the discipline of international politics. It seems, however, to have been forgotten that before his departure to the United States in 1937 he had written several books and articles on international law and on the relations between law and politics. An analysis of Morgenthau's 'European' writings demonstrates, in the first place, that important elements of his post-war 'realist' thoughts on international politics are found in his pre-war writings and, secondly, that these thoughts were by no means new nor surprising to contemporary European scholars. In conclusion, it is suggested that the intellectual origins of 'realism' are not to be found in the American debate between 'utopians' and 'realists', but in a much older and quite established European academic tradition.