The Tragic Vision of Politics
Ethics, Interests and Orders

An exploration of how ethical behaviour in international affairs advances national security.

Richard Ned Lebow (Author)

9780521827539, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 October 2003

424 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.79 kg

' ... a book worthy of reading. ... succeeds in creating a structured text that enables him to deal with different thoughts in different layers without breaking its logic. Thanks to it's richness and multidisciplinarity, Richard Ned Lebow's book will certainly attract a large audience. The text will help students get in touch with the classical realists for the first time in a course on international relations, as well their teachers. ... the deeper insights into the books meta-theme which are identity, ethics and norm compliance in foreign policy will inspire and provoke scholars and should also be noted by practitioners.' Journal of International Relations and Development

Is it possible to preserve national security through ethical policies? Richard Ned Lebow seeks to show that ethics are actually essential to the national interest. Recapturing the wisdom of classical realism through a close reading of the texts of Thucydides, Clausewitz and Hans Morgenthau, Lebow argues that, unlike many modern realists, classic realists saw close links between domestic and international politics, and between interests and ethics. Lebow uses this analysis to offer a powerful critique of post-Cold War American foreign policy. He also develops an ontological foundation for ethics and makes the case for an alternate ontology for social science based on Greek tragedy's understanding of life and politics. This is a topical and accessible book, written by a leading scholar in the field.

1. Nixon in Hell
2. Tragedy and politics
3. Thucydides and war
4. Thucydides and civilization
5. Carl von Clausewitz
6. Hans J. Morgenthau
7. The wisdom of classical realism
8. Running red lights and ruling the world
9. Tragedy and scholarship.

Subject Areas: Diplomacy [JPSD], International relations [JPS], Political science & theory [JPA], History of ideas [JFCX], Social & political philosophy [HPS], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], General & world history [HBG]