cvlii Preface 10First Edition

diagnosis of the present crisis In world history. Many excellent historical

and descriptive works about various aspects of international relations
have appeared in the last twenty years, and my indebtedness to some of
these is recorded in endnotes, which must take the place of a
bibliography. But not one of these works known to me has attempted
to analyse the profounder causes of the contemporary international crisis.
My obligations to individuals are still more extensive. In particular, I
desire to record my deep gratitude to three friends who found time to read
the whole of my manuscript, whose comments were equally stimulating
whether they agreed or disagreed with my views, and whose suggestions
are responsible for a great part of such value as this book possesses: Charles
Manning, Professor of International Relations in the London School of
Economics and Political Science; Dennis Routh, Fellow of All Souls
College, Oxford, and recently Lecturer in International Politics in the
University College of Wales, Aberystwyth: and a third, whose official
position deprives me of the pleasure of naming him here. During the past
three years I have been a member of a Study Group of the Royal Institute
of International Affairs engaged on an enquiry into the problem of
nationalism, the results of which are about to be published,' The lines of
investigation pursued by this Group have sometimes touched or crossed
those which I have been following in these pages; and my colleagues in
this Group and other contributors to its work have, in the course of our
long discussions, unwittingly made numerous valuable contributions to
the present book, To these, and to the many others who, in one way or
another, consciously or unconsciously, have given me assistance and
encouragement in the preparation of this volume, I tender my sincere
thanks.
30 September 1939
1 Nationalism: A study by a Group of Members of the Royal Institute of
International Affairs (Oxford University Press)
Part One
The Science of International
Politics
CHAPTER ONE
The Beginnings ofa Science
The science of international politics is in its infancy Down to 1914, the
conduct of international relations was the concern of persons profession-
ally engaged in it In democratic countries, foreign policy was traditionally
regarded as outside the scope of party politics; and the representative
organs did not feel themselves competent to exercise any close control over
the mysterious operations of foreign offices. In Great Britain, public
opinion was readily aroused if war occurred in any region traditionally
regarded as a sphere of British interest, or if the British navy momentarily
ceased to possess that margin of superiority over potential rivals which was
then deemed essential. In continental Europe, conscription and the
chronic fear of foreign invasion had created a more general and continuous
popular awareness of international problems, But this awareness found
expression mainly in the labour movement, which from time to time
passed somewhat academic resolutions against war, The constitution of the
United States of America contained the unique provision that treaties were
concluded by the President 'by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate', But the foreign relations of the United States seemed too parochial
to lend any wider significance to this exception, The more picturesque
aspects of diplomacy had a certain news value, But nowhere, whether In
universities or In wider Intellectual circles, W<lS there organized study of
current international affairs, War was still regarded mainly as the business
of soldiers; and the corollary of this was that Internatlonal politics were the
business of diplomats. There was no general desire to take the conduct of
international affairs out of the hands of the professionals or even to pay
serious and systematic attention to what they were doing,
The war of 1914-18 made an end of the view that war is a matter which
affects only professional soldiers and, in so doing, dissipated the
corresponding Impression that International politics could safely be left
in the hands of professional diplomats, The campaign for the popularlza-
lion of international politics began in the English-speaking countries in
the form of an agitation against secret treaties, which were attacked, on
insufficient evidence, as one of the causes of the war The blame for tile
secret treaties should have been imputed, not to the wickedness of the
4 rite Science cfintemotiona! Politics
governments, but to the Indifference of the peoples, Everybody knew that
such treaties were concluded, But before the war of 1914 few people felt
any curiosity about them or thought them oblectionable.! The agitation
against them was, however, a fact of immense importance, It was the first
symptom of the demand for the popularization of international politics
and heralded the birth of a new science
Purpose and analysis in political science
TIlescience of international politics has, then, come into being in response
to a popular demand. It has been created to serve a purpose and has, in this
respect, followed the pattern of other sciences, At first sight, this pattern
may appear illogical. Our first business, it will be said, is to collect, classify
and analyse our facts and draw our Inferences; and we shall then be ready to
investigate the purpose to which our facts and our deductions can be put
The processes of the human mind do not, however, appear to develop in
this logical order. The human mind works, Soto speak, backwards Purpose,
which should logically follow analysis, is required to give it both its initial
impulse and its direction. 'If society has a technical need,' wrote Engels, 'it
serves as a greater spur to the progress of science than do ten unlversitles.f
The first extant textbook of geometry 'lays down an aggregate of practical
rules designed to solve concrete problems: "rule for measuring a round
frultery": "rule for laying out a field"; "computation of the fodder
consumed by geese and oxen" '.3 Reason, says Kant. mustiWproach nature
'not ... In the character o!J! pupil. who listens to all that his mJ!ter chooses
-!.9-J.cll-hLm, b.':lt in that of a judge, who compels the reply to
those questions which he himself t.!;!f!ks fit to 'We cannot study
even stars or rocks or atoms', writes a modern sociologist, 'without being
somehow determined, in our modes of systematization, in the prominence
given to one or another part of our subject, in the form of the questions we
ask and attempt to answer, by direct and human interests." It is the
purpose of promoting health which creates medical science, and the
purpose of building bridges which creates the science of engineering. Desire
to cure the sicknesses of the body politic has given its impulse and its
inspiration to political science. Purpose, whether we are conscious of It or
not, is a condition of thought; and thlnking for thinking's sake is as
abnormal and barren as the miser's accumulation of money for its own
sake 'The wish Is father to the thought' is a perfectly exact description of
the origin of normal human thinking,
If this is true of the physical sciences, it is true of political science in a far
more intimate sense. In the physical sciences, the distinction between the
investigation of facts and the purpose to which the facts are to be put is
TheIJcgirmings of tl Science S
not only theoretically valid, but is constantly Observed in practice, The
laboratory worker engaged In investigating the causes of cancer may have
been originally inspired by the purpose of eradicating the disease. But this
purpose is in the strictest sense irrelevant to the investigation and
separable from it. His conclusion can be nothing more than a true report
on facts. It cannot help to make the facts other than they are; for the facts
exist independently of what anyone thinks about them. In the political
sciences, which are concerned with human behaViour, there are no such
facts. The investigator is inspired by tile desire to cure some ill of the body
politic. Among the causes of the trouble, he diagnoses the fact that human
beings normally react to certain conditions in a certain way. But this is not
a fact comparable with the fact that human bodles react In a certain way to
certain drugs. It is a fact which may be changed by the desire to change lt:
and this desire, already present in the mind of the investigator, may be
extended, as the result of his Investigation, to a sufficient number of other
human beings to make it effective. The purpose is not, as In the physical
sciences, irrelevant to the investigation and separable from it: it is itself
one of the facts In theory, the distinction may no doubt still be drawn
between the role of the investigator who establishes the facts and the role
of the practitioner who considers the right course of action. In practice,
one role shades imperceptibly Into the other. Purpose and analysis
become part and parcel of a single process
A few examples wJlJ illustrate this point Marx, when he wrote Capital,
was inspired by the purpose of destroying the capitallst system just as the
investigator of the causes of cancer Is inspired by the purpose of eradicating
cancer. But the facts about capitalism are not, like the facts about cancer,
Independent of the attitude of people towards it Marx's analysis was
Intended to alter, and did in fact niter, that attitude. In the process of
analyslng the facts, Marx altered them. To attempt to distinguish between
Marx the scientist and Marx the propagandist is idle hair-splitting. The
financial experts, who in the summer of 1932 advised the British
Government that it was possible to convert 5 per cent War Loan at the
rate of 31;2 per cent, no doubt based their advice all an analysis of certain
facts; but tile fact that they gave this advice was one of the facts which,
being known to the financlal world, made the operation successful.
Aualysts and purpose were inextricably blended. Nor Is it only the thinking
of professional or qualified students of politics which constitutes a political
fact Everyone who reads the polltical columns of a newspaper or attends a
political meeting Ordiscusses politics with his neighbour is to that extent a
student of politics; and the judgement which he forms becomes (especially,
but not exclusively, in democratic countries) a factor In the Course of
political events Thus a reviewer might conceivably criticize thls book 011
6 TlteScience orIntemationai Politics
the ground, not that it was false, but that it was inopportune; and this
criticism, whether justified or not, would be intelligible, whereas the same
criticism of a book about the causes of cancer would be meaningless. ~
PRlitlcal judgement helps to modify the facts on which it is passe.d,
Political thought is itself a fonn of polltical action. Political science is the
~ o t only of what is, but of what ought to be _.
The role of utopianism
If therefore purpose precedes and conditions thought, it is not surprising to
find that, when the human mind begins to exercise itself in some fresh
field, an initial stage occurs in which the element of wish or purpose is
overwhelmingly strong, and the Inclination to analyse facts and means
weak or non-existent Hobhouse notes as a characteristic of 'the most
primitive peoples' that 'the evidence of the truth of an Idea Is not yet
separate from the quality which renders it pleasant'." The same would
appear to be conspicuously true of the primitive, or 'utopian', stage of the
political sciences" Q!,zrimL this stage, the Investigators will pay little
attent!.Qo...1Q.J:;illting 'facts' or to the analysis of cause and effect, but will
--- -.-- -
. devote themselves wholeheartedly to the elaboration of visionary projects
j;;"theattainment orThe ends which mey have trrview - projects wnose
simplicity ana perfection give them an easy and umversaI appeal. It is only
when these projects break down, and wish or purpose Is shown to be
incapable by itself of achieving the desired end, that the investigators will
reluctantly call in the aid of analysis, and the study, emerging from its
infantile and utopian period, will establish its claim to be regarded as a
science. 'Sociology', remarks Professor Ginsberg, 'may be said to have arisen
by way of reaction against sweeping generalizations unsupported by
detailed inductive enquiry,"
It may not be fanciful to find an illustration of this rule even in the domain
of physical science, During the Middle Ages, gold was a recognized medium
of exchange. But economic relations were not sufficiently developed to
require more than a limited amount of such a medium. When the new
economic conditions of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries introduced a
Widespread system of money transactions, and the supply of gold was found
to be inadequate for the purpose, the wise men of the day began to
experiment in the possibility of transmuting commoner metals into gold.
The thought of the alchemist was purely purposive. He did not stop to
enquire whether the properties of lead were such as to make it transmutable
Into gold. He assumed that the end was absolute (i.e. that gold must be
produced), and that means and material must somehow be adapted to it, It
was only when this visionary project ended in failure that the investigators
The l!egilllliHg.1 o{ fI Science 7
were prompted to apply their thought to an examination of 'facts', l.e, the
nature of matter; and though the initial utopian purpose of making gold out
of lead is probably as far as ever from fulfilment, modern physical science has
been evolved out of this primitive aspiration,
Other illustrations may be taken from fields more closely akin to our
present subject
It was in the fifth and fourth centuries lie that the first serious recorded
attempts were made to create a science of politics These attempts were
made Independently in China and in Greece. But neither Confucius nor
Plato, though they were of course profoundly Influenced by the polit1cal
Institutions under which they lived, really tried to analyse the nature of
those Institutions or to seek the underlying causes of the evlls which they
deplored. Like the alchemists, they were content to advocate highly
imaginative solutions whose relation to existing facts was one of flat
negation." The new political order which they propounded was as
different from anything they saw around them as gold from lead, It was
the product not of analysis, but of aspiration
In the eighteenth century, trade in Western Europe had become so
important as to render Irksome the innumerable restrictions placed on it
by governmental authority and justified b)' mercantilist theory. The
protest against these restrictions tool, the form of a wishful vision of
universal free trade; and out of this vision the physiocrats In France, and
Adam Smith 1n Great Britain, created a science of political economy. The
new science was based primarily on a negation of existing rcallty and on
certain artificial and unverified generalizations about the bchavlour of a
hypothetical economic man, Tn practlce, it achieved some highly useful
and important results. But economic theory long retained its utopian
character; and even to-day SOIl1l' 'classical economists' insist on regarding
universal free trade - all imaginary condition which has never existed - as
the normal postulate of economic science, and all reality as a deviation
from this utopian prototype."
In the opening years of the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution
created a new social problem to engage human thought in Western
Europe The pioneers who first set out to tackle this problem were the men
un whom posterity has bestowed the name of 'utopian socialists'; Saint-
Simon and Fourier in Prance, Robert Owen In England- These men did not
attempt to analyse the nature of clnss-lnterests or clnss-consclousncss or of
the class-conflict to which they gave rise. They simply made unverified
assumptions about human behaviour and, on the strength of these, drew
lip visionary schemes of ideal communttles in which men of all classes
would live together In amity, sharing the fruits of their labours in
proportion to their needs For all of them, as Engels remarked, 'socialism is
8 Tire Science of lntematlonal Politics
the expression of absolute truth, reason and justice, and needs only be
discovered in order to conquer all the world in virtue of its own power'.I''
The utopian socialists did valuable work in making men conscious of the
problem and of the need of tackling it But the solution propounded by
them had no logical connexion with the conditions which created the
problem, Once more, It was the product not of analysis, but of aspiration.
Schemes elaborated in this spirit would not, of course, work. Just as
nobody has ever been able to make gold In a laboratory, so nobody has
ever been able to live In Plato's republic or In a world of universal free trade
or In FourIer's phalansterles. But It Is, nevertheless, perfectly right to
venerate Confucius and Plato as the founders of political science, Adam
Smith as the founder of political economy, and Fourier and Owen as the
founders of socialism, The Initial stage of aspiration towards an end is an
essential foundation of human thinking. The wish Is father to the
thought. Teleology precedes analysis,
The teleological aspect of the science of international politics has been
conspicuous from the outset. It took Its rise from a great and disastrous
war; and the overwhelming purpose which dominated and inspired the
pioneers of the new science was to obviate a recurrence of this disease of
the International body politic The passionate desIre to prevent war
determined the whole initial course and direction of the study. Likeother
the science of international politics has been markedly
utopian. It has been in the initial stage in which wiShing
prevails over thinking, generalization over observation, and In which
little attempt is made at a critical analysis of existing facts or available
means. In this stage, attention is concentrated almost exclusively on the
end to be achieved. The end has seemed so Important that analytical
criticism of the means proposed has too often been branded as destructive
and unhelpful. When President Wilson, on his way to the Peace
Conference, was asked by some of his advisers whether he thought his
plan of a League of Nations would work, he replied briefly: 'If it won't
work, it must be made to work."! The advocate of a scheme fur an
international police force or for 'collective securlty"-;-or or;(;me other
-project for an International order, generally replied to the critic not by an
. argument designed to show how and wh he thou lIt his plan wiliwork,
but either by a statement that it must be made to wor because the
..- .---.----
consequences of its failure to worl< would be so disastrous, or by a demand
fiJr some alternative nostrum.J2 This ID.USt be the spirit InWhiCilthe
[
alchemist or the utopian socialist would have answered the sceptic who
questioned whether lead could be turned Into gold or men made to live in
model communities. Thought has been at a discount, Much that was said
and written about international politics between 1919 and 1939 merited
the stricture applied in another context by the economist Marshall, who
compares 'the nervous irresponsibility which conceives hasty utopian
schemes' to the 'bold facility of the weak player who will speedily solve
the most difficult chess problem by taking on himself to move the black
men as well as the white' Ll In extenuation of this intellectual fallure, it
may be said that, during the earlier of these years, the black pieces In
International politics were in the hands of such weak players that the real
difficulties of the game were scarcely manifest even to the keenest
Intelligence, The course of events after 1931 clearly revealed the
inadequacy of pure aspiration as the basis for a science of international
pollrlcs, and made it possible for the first lime to embark on serious critical
and analytical thought about International problems
The impact of realism
No science deserves the name until it has acquired sufficient humility not
to consider itself omnipotent, and to distinguish the analysis of what is
from aspiration ahout what should be. BecauseIn the political sciences this
distinction Gin never be absolute, some people prefer to withhold from
them the right to the title of science. In both physical and political sciences,
the point is soon reached where the Initial stage of Wishing must be
succeeded by a stage of hard and ruthless analysis, The difference is that
political sciences can never wholly emancipate themselves from utopian-
ism, and that the political scientist is apt to linger for a longer inltlal period
than the physical scientist in the utopian stage of development. This is
perfectly natural. For while the transmutation of lead Into gold would be no
nearer if everyone in the world passionately desired it, it is undeniable that
if everyone really desired a 'world-state' or 'collective security' (and meant
the same thing by those terms), it would be easilyattained: and the student
of international politics may be forgiven if he begins by supposing that his
task is to make everyone desire it It takes him some time to understand that
no progress is likely to be made along this path, and that no political utopia
will achieve even the most limited success unless it grows out of polltlcal
reality Having made the discovery, he will embark on that hard ruthless
analysis of reality which is the hallmark of science; and one of the facts
whose causes he wlll have to analyse is the fact that few people do desire a
'world-state' Or 'collective security', and that those who think they desire It
mean different and incompatible things by it. He will have reached a stage
when purpose by itself is seen to be barren, and when analysis of reality has
forced itself upon him as an essential ingredient of his study.
The impact of thinking upon wishing which, In the development of a
science, follows the breakdown of its first visionary projects, and marks
10 171e Science at International P o l J t i c ~
the end of its specifically utopian period, Is commonly called realism.
Representing a reaction against the wish-dreams of the initial stage,
realism is liable to assume a critical and somewhat cynical aspect. In the
field of thought, it places its emphasis on the acceptance of facts and on
the analysis of their causes and consequences. It tends to depreciate the
role of purpose and to maintain, explicitly or implicitly, that the function
of thinking is to study a sequence of events which it is powerless to
influence or to alter. In the field of action, realism tends to emphasize the
irresistible strength of existing forces and the inevitable character of
existing tendencies, and to Insist that the highest wisdom lies in
accepting, and adapting oneself to, these forces and these tendencies..
Such an attitude, though advocated in the name of 'objective' thought, may
no doubt be carried to a point where it results in the sterilization of thought
and the negation of action. But there Isa stage where realismis the necessary
corrective to the exuberance of utopianism, just as in other periods
utopianism must be Invoked to counteract the barrenness of realism.
Immature thought Is predominantly purposive and utopian. Thought
which rejects purpose altogether is the thought of old age. Mature thought
combines purpose with observation and analysis. Utopia and reality are thus
the two facets of political science. Sound political thought and sound
politicaillfe will be found only where both have their place.
Notes
1. Arecent historian of the Franco-Russian alliance, havlng recorded the protests
of a few French radicals against the secrecy which enveloped this transaction,
continues: 'Parliament and opinIon tolerated this complete silence, and were
content to remain in absolute Ignorance of the provisions and scope of the
agreement' (Michon, L'A/liO/lceFtanco-Busse, p. 75).. in 1898, ln the Chamber
of Deputies, Hanotaux was applauded for describlng the disclosure of Its terms
as 'absolutely Impossible' (ibid, P: 82)
2 Quoted In Sidney Hook, Towards tile Understanding o{Karl Marx, p. 279.
3. J. Rueff, From tilePhysical to the Social Sciences (Engl transl.), p. 27.
4 Kant, Critique ofPure Reason (Everyman ed.), p. 1L
5. Maciver, Community, p. 56..
6. 1.. T. Hobhouse, Development and Purpose, P: 100.
7. M. Ginsberg, Sociology, p. 25
8. 'Plato and Plotlnus, More and Campanella constructed their fandful socletles
wIth those materials whlch were omitted from the fabric of the actual
communltles by the defects of which they were inspired. The Republic, the
Utopia, and the City of the Sun were protests against a state of things which
the experience of their authors taught them to condemn' (Acton, HIstory of
Freedom, p. 270).
TIle fJegillllillgs ofII Science II
9. 'L'econornie polltJque llberale a ete un des mellleurs exemples d'utoples qu'on
pulsse clter. On avait lrnaglne une societe ou tout seralt rarnene i\ des types
commerclaux, sous la 101 de la plus complete concurrence; on reronnait
aujourd'hul que cette societe ldeale scralt aussl dlIficlle arcallser que cello de
Platen' (Sorel, IUI/exiom sur 10 violence, p. 47). Compare Professor Robbins'
well-known defence of hlisscz-{aire economics: 'The Idea of <I co-ordination of
human activity by means of a system of Impersonal rules, within whJch what
spontaneous relations arise arc conducive to mutual benefit, Is a conception at
least as subtle, at least as amhltlous, as the conception of prescribing each
action or each type of action by a central planning authority; and Ills perhaps
not less in harmony with the requirements of a spiritually sound society'
(EwllIlllr/c Pianning' and Intematlunal Order, p. 229). It would be equally true,
and perhaps equally useful, to say that the constitution of Plato's Republic is at
least as subtle, ambitious and satisfying to spiritual rcqulrcments as that of any
state which has ever existed.
10 Engels, Sodalism, Utopian and SCklll/flc (Engl. transl.), [1 26
11 R. $ Baker, Woodrow H'il.m/l mu! World Settlement, L p 93.
12 'There is the okl well-known story ahout the man who, during the Lisbon
earthquake of 1775, went about hawking antl-earthquakc pills; hut one
Incident Is forgotten - when someone pointed out that the pllfs could not
possibly be of use, the hawker replied: 'But what would you put In their
place?": (L B Namler, Ttl Ille Margin otHlstm)', p. 20),
13. Economic Jell/mal (1907), xvil. p, 9
Part Two
The International Crisis
E. I--t.
C.,.('r
Tlu Sci"m of Itll.rtzationat Politics
time to uricierstandtba.t no prQgressis likely to be made along
this path, and that no will
most Buccess unless it grows out olpohtical reall
Havfng made t e recovery, e WI CJl1 art on.. a.
le...;'analYlis of reality which i. the ?allmark of science and
one: of the facts whose caueesbe Will have to analyse :15 the
face- that few people do desire .at'world';'state "<or II collective
Becurity II that thosewho think they desireit mean diffe.rc.ot
and incompatible thing. by it. He will have reached a
when purpose- by it. elf i. seen to barren, and anal!""
of reality h forced itself upon hlm as an essential mgredlent
of hitudy. :
The Impact of thinking upon wishing which, in the develop-
ment of a science, follows the breakdown of Jtsfintviaionary-
and marks the end oeitss eci!ical1yHtopiao-periqd,
ill commonly.calle . ! .cprcscntingareact1onagaIn.tt
tfiewlJh..dreams 0 allltage,reaHsmia liable to assume
a mUCa! and some....hateyniCiI aspect. In the fiad of thought,
It oUact!Md.
y"i. of l!miu.'\IIWLand Tt teiiil.lodepreciate
e.' and to or Implicitly,
thsi'the functlonofthinldngi. to study a sequence of events
....hich ii is powerless 'to, Influence or to alter. In the field .of
.reellam tendeto Qf
exi.tin forces sndthe .inevitable character of """,lingtend.
enCleB, and tOinSlIt at e I es:wu m. cs g,
to, theaciorcesandthese tendencies;
sUch un attitUde, t}ioughadvoca.ted mtlie name.ofilobjective"
thought. may no doubt be carried to ,a point where it results
in the .;erlliSltionof thought and the negationo[ Action. But
stage ,to ,the
exub.,l""ce of utoptanurn, lUllt lIS in other period. utoptantsm
the. barrennusof ...
thought i.s- .ilndutoplan.
houg.ht which rejects purpole altogether is the though.t ofDId
sgo. Msty[C!ll.ought p'mbinespurpo.e ....ith oblerl'ltion
are, thus the fa",;1:S of
.cieI]e. Sound poht,ct.J-.t!?ouglit and sound political life will
be found only where both have their place.
CHAPTER.
UTOPiA AND REALITY 'e)
Tint antithesis of utopia and reality a balance always swing.
. Ing',towar6, and away from equilibrium and never completely
l\ttaiiiing it ...... is .... fundamental ltotithesis revealing itself in
.n'lil1i.Jo.m. of thought. The two method. of approach -.tHe
"tcignore what was .2Jid what is in .contemplation
be, and the inclinstion to deduce what should
b*i!rg1Jr what is - determlrie oppoalte attitudes
political problem. ,:' It is the eternal di'llpte", as
puts it" .. between thos. who imaginOe the,world to
tho,e who arrange to .uiLthe
eworld.'rl .: ltmlly... elaborate
before 'proceeding to an eX9.J!U'1stion of the
cumfi\ l:ilili'of International politics., .
.. ."
Fr.. wmana Delmnj"alJ'o"

i. Th .. e.antlthesls of utOQls.ndJt;lity "[1
.. with .theaptitbcsi! dL!"!ce... Vi.- .. and
"Dhe::utQpian is nec
CJ8ariIyvoh!ntllnst:"
he belleves' in the possi..
bllliYof more or lessradicaliy rejecting reality, and .ubstituting
hllutopia Ior It by .nactof",lll. The.reali!t analyses a pre-
determined course of develoPntent which he is powerless' to
clioiige. For the realist, philo.ophy, in the famoua .words of
Heger. preface. to. hi! Ph,'moMy: 0.1 .. comes too
to ch.nge the world By means of phllosephy, the old
Hcannot be rejuvenated, but only known H The utopian,
fixing hi, eyes on the future, thinks in terms of creative .pon
tanelty : the in the past, In terms of causality,
AU healthy human actlon, and fherefcre all he..
uta ia and reall rbetween-free
'Wi11;;aii'o"detennlnism. -L....he romple. , ..Jist unconirrIwrnd1y
acaPtinn-:'ilie eawiil'eq once of eVen11, deeM"" hi,!,.el: <if

'A.Sorel, L' E",.". II /. JUw/-.lf.nrF'rM/tIU'f, P.47.... .
CJ'I
0>
Tlu Science oj lntematicmal Politics
".' thefermer trained to think mainly on a priori
u tter emplncilDy.: ..... the .. th.lng'o,IDal.
the intellectuaLshould liiid himoelf in the camp. whlch seeks
.' ", - .' ,.>' . . , .
to make. practic. confonn to theory'; ,for. inteJlCctuail are
particularly reluctant to recognise .their thought' as conditioned
by forcexternal. to...th.inis.lv... and'like .te.think'of themselv..
as leaders whcse theorl.s provldethemodve force for .O:called
men of action-.1Moreovc;.the whole intellectual,outlook o!,the
la.t two hundred yem":has been Itrongly 'coloured by' the
mathematical /md..natural Iclenees, -To'. est.blilh a general
principle. and II!test the particular in the light 'if th.atprinciple,
h"" been assumed bymo.t.lntellectuals ,to be the nec"sary
foundation and' of anyscience.!n W. 'W!pect.
uto ianism with' its insistence' on" eral rinei les.maybe
said ..to re resent. t e arattulItic.,mt ectua ',,1 coa to
politics. 00 row ISO ",e.mg 'p eel'm ern examp e
.: "excened in the. exposiilon of
fundamentals .. His 'political methOd., was to" base his
appeal upon broadandsimpleprinclplesavoidingcommitment
upon Some.supposedly general-principle,
such .as If national sel(..determin'ation u, H free trade U '01' " eol....
lell-Iin .ecurity "(alLof.whiCh wdl bee""ily recognised by the
aI. of -and .
interests). is taken as an absolute standard,and'pollciq 'are
goOd or baa by the extenf toWhich ther conform to.
or dlvC;g,e,fr.om,Jt. In 'modem'. tim.., intel1ectuals..have. been
'ih."leaders of evcrr. utopian movement; . aild.tl!e .. which
utopianism has renderedtopoliticafprogress, m\lst be. credited
, in large part to them." Dtit' the oC
utopianism 'is also the ch,."facteristlciweakriess"olJ'lie pollllciiJ
mte c ua' .' _. erst;," ;,cxlSung": lty _,an . t e..
way'm w ich their own""standards artuoottihln"lf....."'4'hey..,..
;could give to the". p.,litica!:.aspiratlons Meinecke of
the role of intenec.tuals'in German 'politics; '.:: a .spitit"o{purity
and independence, of idealism,and of devation
. ,. .-.. -
. I The. tenn It It may. be .cor ddI" purpose -include.thOR
or the fiEhUne ,.e:mcc. who:.r.:'co.nceinedi:With:the,.dinetJOQ or poUer.
It 1.. pcrhap., unnecellary "to: add'that! an lQtelled;.1i au
intellectual, or every, occupant ol ...duk lu:.:goYOnUnent.deputnJCDt .. -bureaucrat
Therre, n....erthelcu, model: 01 thought ..blch .-..:e,: brOadly' .Pukln".charade.r-
4th: oC the II bureaucrat U and theU lnlel1cctu!&l" ruptctlnl,..
, R. S. Baker, JY""JntW JYill#ft.' Lif# 4,,,:1 UJIlrI,lll. p. 90.
..
Utopia and 1(6alll']
above, the cO,ncrete play of interests , , but through their
'feehng for the realistic interests of actual state life
theY' qUIc:Jdr descended from the sublime to the extravagat
and ec:centrtc." I ,. n
, It hu that the intellectuals are I...
ID thClr thmking than those groups whose
coherence depends on a COmmon economic interest. and that
. they thereilre occupy -a vantage-point qU-JISNU J. ta ",IU
a. early as 1905. Lenin !'oUacked" the old-fashlened view :{,
thelnte!1lgentsia :'" c,apable '. oC Itanding outslde c1ass ".'
M?re recently, thie view haa been by Dr. Mann-
helm, who argues that the inte1ligentaia, being "r.lo/iv.ly
c1ass1":,,," and " sllclally uIlaltached ", "subsumes in itaelf all
those wit? which .ocial life is 'permeated ", and can
thereforeaUama higher measure of impartiality and objectivity
In ,a certain !Imited sense. this Is true. But any
derived from.t would seemto be nullified by a corresponding
disability, l.e.. detachment fmm the rng"e, wbose attitude is
politlcallif... Even where theillusion
of their leadership. wu. strong..!, modern Intellectuals have
often found themselves ,in the position of officen whose troop.
were ready enough to follow them in quiet times, but could
be relied on to desert in any serious engagement. In Genuany
and many Iwaller European tQuntrics; the democratic con.
stitutions of'l I were the work of devoted intellectuals. aliil
'achieve , a hi h de of t corellcal ectlon." ut w en
a'q1SlS . er. rake down almost everywhere through
f,Uureto Win tb durable iiilcii/anseot-memassoltliepopulabon.
n the United Stat... the intellectuals played apreponderant
part In creatirig the League of Nations, and most of them re-
mained avowedsupporters of it. Yet the ma.. of the American
",.. , .. having appeared to follow their lead. rejected it when
the Critical moment arrived. In Great Britain, the intc:tectuals
secured. by a devoted. and energetic propaganda, o"rwhelm
ing. paper support for the League of Nations. Bu. whenthe
Covenant appeared to require action which might have entailed
practical" consequences for the" mass of the people.successive
governments preferred inaction; and the protests of the in-
I Meinecke, SIIUJI fllfGPwshtlkAu,'" p, 136.
I La.Ia-, JYw,b (::t1ld RuuiaD cd.), vii. p. 7"
Muabdm.1tIt,uD' -.J f/lIJio, pp. 137"40-
'5
......
U1
<0
Tlu Sae of lnternauonai r-ousscs
Wilson believed that peace would be secured if international
issues were settled fl not by diplomats or politicians each eager
.to ser-ve his own interests, but by dispassionate scientists-
geographers, ethnologists, economists-who had made studies.
of the problem. involved ".' Bureaucrats, and especially diplo-
mats, were long regarded with suspldon In League of Nalions
circles; and it was consideredthat the League would contribute
greatly to the soludon of international problem.' by..taking
out of the reactionary-hands of foreign offices. Wilson,
i.(l introducing the draft Covenant to ie plenary 'sesalcn of the .
Peace Conference, spoke of " the feeling that, if the deliberating
body of the League of Nation. wi.. merely to b. a body of
officials representing the various governments, the peeples of
the world would not be sure that some of the mistakes which
preoccupied officials had admittedly made might not be
repeated .... Later, in the House of Commons, Lord Cecil
was morc scathing: ,
I am afraid I came to the conclusionat the Peace Con-
Ierence, from my own experience, thar fhe PrussianJwere
. not exclusively confined to Germany. There is. also the
whole tendency and tradition of the official classes.
You cannot avoid "the co
l1clusion
that there isa tendency
among them to think that whatever is is right.'
At the Second Assembly, LordCecilinV'oked the support of
"public opinion ", which the League was supposed torepr...ent,
against the " official classes U ; and' such appeals were fre..
heard during the next ten years. The bureaucrat for
his' part equally mistrusted the missionary zeal of ent!lusiastic
intellectuals security, world order, and general
disarmament --schemes which seemed to him the product of
pure theory divorced from practical experience. The disarma-
. rnent issue well iIlusiated this divergence of view. For the
intellectual, .the general principlew..... simple and straight-
Iorward ; the alleg,ed difficulties of applying it were due to
obstruction by the "experts U) For fhe general
" R.S. Bake;, ."J Wlff'IJ S,II/"rcmt, I. p. 112.
:1 Hit/"". tTl 1111 P'/U, C"nj,rmt"ed. H. Temperler, W.p.62.
".' HOUle or CommolU, Julr 21, 19191 Offici.' Ji'!WI, col. 993.
f Udpu 4 J'lfl/itml: S,t,,"J Committee, p. 281.
; "I II It Is bot to be lolerated ", Said lheJJelgiu aoclallit De Broul:kbe... thllt
lhe people Ibould be robbedo( tWill hopes or peeee by expem"ho are lOllng
theIDJelTClI 10. the ",hlch, with & little ioodwin, might be
,8
..... ....r :- - ..
-principle was meaningless and utopian; whether armaments
could be reduced, and if so which, was a " practical II question
'd d ' h ,',,',',,',:,' ,",'Il':'" ",. ':,' its"
etc oc!decl e m eac case '" on Its men s .
L<Jt and Ri[ht
The antithesis of utopia reality, and of theory and
practiCe, ifutthEt:reprodUCes usel! 1ri the . antithesIs 01
and Rigtit. though I' would be rasa
to ...umethat parties carrying'these labels always representl
these underlying tendencies. The radical is necessarilyutopian.
and the conw:xMi.l:V!l!I.i#t.The intellectual, tliO'"man of theory,
towards.the Left ;just as naturally as the bureau-
crat,' the man or practice, will gravitate towards the Right.
. Hence the Ri htis weak in ,and sulicrs tbrout::hJ!!s
inaceess. ili to, ..... The characteristic weakness of the
e t18 at ure to tranlJlateits thea into ractice - -alaIlUre
or !W Ilsaptto &JT1ct e ureaucrats, utwhichis
Inherent in Its utopian character.
H
The Left has reason
(V'Tnunjl),!he Right has Wisdom (Vn'Sland) ", wrote the Naz'
philosopher/MoeUer den Bruck;' From the days or Burke
on-Yards,English. con have always strongly denied
the!possibilltyof d.ducing political practice by a logical process
froin political theory. .. To follow the syllogism alone is a'
sho'rt cuttothebottomle811 pit H, says., Lord Baldwin 1_a
phJase which may suggest that he practises as well as preaches
abatendcn Jromrigorously .lcgical modes of thought. . Mr.
Cilurchill refusesto believethat" extravagant logicin doctrine"
appeals to the British elector.' A particularly clear definition
of different attitudes towards foreign policy comes from a speech
made in the .House of Commons by Neville Chamberlain in
answer to a Labour critic : . ;
: What' does the hon, Member mean by forcign policy 1
iYou can lay down sound and propositions. You
dJlentangledIn aCe" hOUri " (Ptaetl and DbarinlUllentCommitte' or Women"
Intematlonlll0rgUl.atlonJ: ',', C!rc.ul&r;of Idar 1s. 193J). About the umt time,
Ldrd CecUwu reported Inthe ..me ItIlIe, "]( thematter wa, tobe left to expertl
DOl:hlng 'Would be done. b,,,ulure,Inolt .ablt,CODldentloul,
lnitrutltdgerttlemeUibutJultlook at thelr<lr&htlnc" (M""ell,st". GW,J,lUI,
18,1931). .. ..- , .. .
j I Moeller YUI denlJruck. J}tJSDn',,_RntAbrded.),p. '57
I. lJaldwin, On E"tl,,",", P.IS3. J WinltonChurchill, SIIP9J
. JQ .,
.....
en
o
Tn8 Intemationa] Cnsis
people everywhere throughout. the world". 1n the League ol
Nations - Commission, oC .the Cl?nfercnce. the Japanese had
raised the issue oC race equaUty. ot .Howcan you .treat on. Its
merits in this quiet room u. en'quired:thc a.question
which will not be' treated on. its' merits when it gets out of
this room 1 ... Later history of this
phenomenon. It b'ecamc' '{or: ,statesmen. at,
eneva dsewherc' to: mer
every deslr to e realona6Ict'but,ffiat pUbllC'OplnIOn JO their
countne, was leB./was some-
time,- a retext or a tact ell ere-,..-8170 teil.a so Id
0 rea ty benea! . ,.t.,,,: . It .
correspondingly declined.;; .It does: .
the arbitrator, .the poUceman or Jhc Judge. I ..
known supporter .'of the. Lcague:,of .. reeently,
tI to be ...cr
Ing cheers.":'.' oodrowWUson's'!" lalnmen throughol't the
1 '.. ."
. mankind ", had. somehow .
orderiY'P!' :n?l":, ';U
seemed undeniable.. that. In:..interp.ationat
was almost 88 laS'
where so many ,of t\1. of.'919 ",.r.,ciumblini!"'
the intellectual leaders of-the -utopian.' school'stuck }othe.ur
guns:' and in Great .Britain and. to
alesser degree in France - the riCt between .theory and 'practice
assumed alarming .dlmenslone. 'Armch-air': students of .inter-
national a/fairs were urianimous.ahoutth.'kind.of which
\ ought to b. loUowed.. both.int!,e,political and in.the
field, Governmcnts of many countries actcd Ina.sense precisely
contrary to this advice.-and received the endorsement of public
, opinion at the polla, . : .... ..
. Tilt Pro61tm of Diagnosis '.. ,
In the Is far to
seek. The able 'historian of the'Commuriisf'lnternational ,has
noted that, in the' history of that .institutif?n, ." .every failure
_ not objective failure, but the failure of the reality to comply
, .'I '
I Miller, Tla"Dr,,/J.fI ,,/IA. p .101.
I Lerd Alleo of Hurhfood, TA. Timtl,.MlIY JO, 193
8
,
J8
TJu Utopian Ba&kground
with the utopia - supposes a traitor".t The principle has a
wide application, and touches deepspripgs of human character.
Statesmen armorethan one count ha en . Dried b
" 'gpo utopians a8 wreckers of .the Jnt!:;rnatlonal order.
ti.rs oflh. school who have tried 10 go behind
, .":2.1'0. Ie e:xplanat on
II mankInd. in. ita internatlOni1 <elallors
laile<I, to J'chi.v. "ational good, It must either
too stupid to understand that geed, or tOQ wicked
to 'itt!!,!,i1.it. .Professor' Zlmme",n' to the hypothesis of
almost lor word the argument of
Sirfiormad Angell ; '
,-..
,.. In our path: . is not in the
tbe Intellectual 1t is ncrbeeauee men are
, that they cannot be educated Into a world ecefal
It is' because th.y -let us be honesl and
"....:.,:. b.ings of conservative temper and limited
\ <lllfl!lUgence. . ,
a world 'order has failed not
. 'or ambition eed II but If muddled think..
it . 'ro essor Toynbee, on the other, and, sees thitcausli
-.;. breakdown in human. wickedness. In i. Binglevolume of
Survty of InttmatiollalAffairs, h. accuses ltaly of
,i strong-willed, aggressive egotism ", Great Britain
and France or 011 negative.weak..willed, cowardly egotism ",
WeStern Christendom as a whole of a U sordid H, crime, and
atFilte members of the League or Nations, except Abyssinia,
or'i'covctousness !'or "cowardice" (thecholce is left to them),
viliiI. the attitude of the Americans is merely .. rather cap_
perverse":J Some writers combined the charge of
., ".iiiiiidity and the charge of wlckedness, Much comment on
international affairs' was rendered tedlous and sterile by ln-
cessant girding at a reality which refused to conform to utopian
prescriptions.
Thimplicity of these explanations seemed almcat Judi-
crously to the intensity and complexity of the
" F. Borkl!:DllU, TA, C""'"n",id I,./,mllJilnfQ!. p, 179. ..
*' N"d,."IiJy Q,.J S'#fln',y (Hurl. Foundation tecturu I Chicago,
'936), pp: I, ,I. ' '. ' , ' I .
Surwy O/III"tJltJJiMI# "Ao;,.,. I93J, II', pp. e, 69, 96. 219:10, ",80.
>.
.....
c::n
.....
Th International Crisis
international crisis.' The Impeesslon mede on the ordinary f
roan was more accurately recorded in April 1938 in some words
or Mr. Anthony Eden: '
.. . ........::.:. ..' .... : ..; ..:.:.\.
. It is utterly futile to ,imagine that weare involved in a
European crisis which may pase a,s it has comev ; Weare
involved ip a crisis!' liumanityaU the world over. 'Weare
living in one of tho... great periods of history which arc"awe-
'lnspiririg1in theirf':spon,ibilitiesand in, their ccnsequences.
'Stupendous forces rare loose, hurricane forces.
2
.'
'. '. .
It is not true,aa Prcfeeecr Tcynbee believd,tbat we have been
living in an exceptionallywicked age. It i. not true, a. Professor
Zlmmern implies. that we have beenliving in .an exceptionally
stuptd cne.: StilU... i.it true.a.Prores.or,Lauterpachtmore
optimiaticallyauggeats
rthat
what we have .beenaperieiicing
is,,;" a. tra.niientperiodor.r.ctrogrenion whlcbshould.not be
aUowedunduly to colour our thought.'. It i. a'meaJ1lllgles.
evasion to, retendthatwehavewltnessednotilic liUure of
the Leagueo atl0n". ut only tea ure oft osew 0 re Ul!Je
M
'
to makeit:work The brellkdownoCthe nineteen..thfrtieswas
100 to beSIllamcd
inaction. Its dovinfan involved the bankruptcy of
. on which it wa. ba.ed. The roundaUons -;;r'
nineteenth-century boUef are themselves under-ausplclon, It
may be not that lOenstupidlyotwickedlr., Cailed to apply-
rilr.\J!..l!rinciple., bu.tthat the principles wite'TaI-\
..or-.inapplicable... untrue Uiat nmen
rea.on rlitbllV .!l0Ut mlcrnalioijal ponues they wDl RI.o act
. .cr a ri htrc'llsonin aboutene's ownor one'. nation's
. llltere.t. i. the road to an mternalional para ISo. e ...ump-
tilln. o{nineteenth.century are in lacl untenable, it
need not surprise u. that the utopiaof the internatillnal theoriste
:triade "0 little on reality' Butlf they are untenable
'ts-day. we shan all" have to expIninwhythcy Cound such
MIdespread acceptance. and inspired such splendld achieve-
in the nineteenth century.
, .
" ::.. , AI.I reeem ","tet hi' Aid ot the rreuc:h elghtt'l!'aLb-nowry ntlon.t1bu,
nlhtit .upufidaUtyta7I1la.boclt1ng tsaggnaticD oCtht .lmpl1dty or Lhe problem"
Sabine,..A HirtW'}' _/ P,/i/U,u TM,?,s p. 551).
I AnlhOD1 Edell, P"",ip APrI, p, 'lS.
I Irrt".,..hn.J Ajf_irl! xriJ. (Seplembu-Odob!ri938),' 712.
,:CHAPTEIl 4
THE HARMONY OF INTEREST"
UtopiaN' SyNtlttsiJ'
'.. I
No poUticalsodcty, national orlnternationlll, can exist unless
people submit to certain .rules'of conduct'. he roblem.why
!,eo.plc to .uch is the fundamental prob em
_Q[ phdosop!!'y. The problem presents itself ju.t-;-
/n.laten.tlyma ...under other form. of government
mternatlonal .. mnauonlil polities; [or such a formula
. :the. greatest flood .. of thcgaatestnumber It provides .D.P
to the?ucstionwbytbc' cod
,'" IIl'Pot"."notpu... to
f.l!e .inte....t 'llroidly speaking, the
two categories, . ccrre..
spondJog tothcantftltg'a..d'rr:fJucdjn a prefuUJ 'ili! l
Po . h ... h ' . _. s.. UP. clj
t OJC1LO reQ',rd 'poUtiNas" I'u_-Uo C thi' d
" ............ n 0 e C.J all
,..o!!, who etItles lIS a f!!!l.<;!!<!'! !If'p!lJilies. . .,
.
r.. ...erttheprima! oC ethics_over projtic. will
.hold.J.!m..h I, to for the sake
pf the communlQ' as .. 'Whole. "llOtil\ciEg hi. own to
interut oili,. arc 'Or:Ii1'
""Jq<:...= D"l'nang. The" ood." ;WWch. consists in 'seif-
.......tshould be-slJbordlnat e 00 w con" ts
1
'- ' - e for an end I 'her than self.interest.
rxhe 0 0 mtu on of,what' I t
land cannotbcdemorutratcdbyrational argument. Those; on
!llle other hand .who as, e rima or olities oVer e
i1" .argue at the ruler rules "ccausehe is the stronger, and
l1henlledaubFlt because they are, the weaker. this principle
lIS ju'taseaJlllyapplicable to democracy .. to any other form
lof governrnent'"The majority riJlesbecau.e It .Is Itroniw
Ithe rtUoorlty submits beeau ltis weaker, Democrasy.
'often been said. su!ntltytes the counting: o[ head. for the break-
Jlng or hCBdL. But the substltutlon I. merely a conveniencf.
'and the principle of the two methods'i. the eeme. The realls'! .
i therefore, unlike the:, in,tuiuonist, he a perfectly rational ani:we;
41
.....
11:..4
to the question ,":hy the llqa d bmit. e .
Ie. ... . ,'. '.A!!Q.
'. of
yoliint!yy Obllgation'.is us enveu. roma 90
0(. ,Purious'.ethic 'baaed 'onthc'reasonablem:ss' Qf recognising
that might 1.1 right. . --' _- . .
Both theseanswin .are open to objection. 'Modem man;
who has 80 ni'ruiY'niagnificent achievements of human
reuon; i. rll uctant to belii:vc'tharreason'and.:obliglltlpn.lIome-
-.tJmell eon I .' n.t e o.ther p,and.mt;n;o;. .agq aVC,lue
'find .
tion ia merely (If,the 'stronger. One the strongeSt
points .0(, .eighteenth-
its apparent success:in.
The utopian,
believes.in an obUgjltion':"lhi-:!I':ls and
independent oC the right oCthe akorigcr. -,But hehu.'llIsobeen
able to convince ijlm.elf, on grounds th'isp:.o{ tlie:
.. realist, that submif
the Inter-est'-of the cemmunltyean b=justified,wtenns cif-.reason,
and that the greatestgo.od t:1Qhc' greatest number.Is
4 1. 1 .,
end even (or those who ar.c not mclud,edtn the. -,
.!Ie this . svnth'esht b>(maintaining, that;
e the individual and thtdii hest
"munal 'naturaU 'col . luin 'I "own,intereati!t e
llJdM51.1lil ur esthat'"o(the inl ' r.omotln
the:.1nt1:reK , ' '.' own i, it
. ...., .... _ ,,_. 1
the famous doclrine,of..the JlIl.miony" ItiCi$:ai necClI<i'
s -c I olthe ';'stulate that' m'or.ltawl be ell a s ed
i .2l"QJitbt .. .
of in,terelt.t would.be. ; ,.amCanYlapP-ll.re.l';It
clash' of interests must t ;be.' explained:' 1 the result Ob
_ \. ' ">I. ... t. .
wroJig "calculation.:," Burk;c the of.
ldentlrywhen he defined as thr !flilc,h:.
for the. community and: ..j_t .:'.1 ,:; t
on the
and ,from Bentham to. the Jflctorian' mors.hsts. ':'l'hq
_
prf}!!!.Q.!ingthe gQ..o..d oC gllc I!
own., .Honesh' is the best folicI. -,If people or natiOnJ beJ.1avc;
. , ' I T. -t-07.' ,
4:1
The Harmony of ftiler6SIs
' ..
ba?ly;, it, must: be,. as Buckle and Sir Norman Angell .and
Zlinmern thlnk, because they ire unintellectua]: and'
shortsigqted and .
T.h4'Pa;w#ri pj L'airiu-Fair,
... l...... .... ,"... ..-
". t w. the Ja,sull- ire' chool of olitical ec
by" ':lm whillhwas for populas-
1img)Jic .docttrne ofthe of interests. ,The purpose of
the schoolwllsto promcte f1ie control in
mll;tters and in .ordc;.r:d:o j\llltify this polley.: it set
demonstratethat the :.individual. could be relied on
whhout' externaypontrol: to_promote the -intereits of the corn-
muiUtY.for the very reason that those interests were 'identical
own,:. ThispTopf was the burden of Till (1f
Nalipns: . The .community is divided Into those who live by
rent. those who live by wagc:s and. those who Jive by profit-;
and' the- Interests of II those three great orders II are II strictly
and Irlseparaply 'connected with. the Interest of the:
society.",I. :rhci harmony is none tlle len real if those qmcerned
" ?f it. The indIvidual It neither Intends to pro-
?,ote-til: 'IOtereat. nor' knows how he Is promoting
It-:,:''. ijc lntendll only his-own gain, and he is'iI!.J!!ill....!udn
tases, an11nvisible-hand-to'promote an end
lland,
_SJ!1i th It!lve
. . :" It is curious to
" o1i,lerv.c ,. f remarks a tract-Issued 'bythe,stlciety for the Pro-
pagp.,t:Jon .of Christian Knowledge. towards -the middle of the
nineteenth 'century, II how" through' the ':wile ancrb'eneficent
o(IProvidencei 'menthus do thc"greatest:'al:rvice
'-to:ihc' public.when .they"arethinking bt nothingt but their-own
J',Aboutthcsamc.tlme an English clergyman wrote a
entitled:TIt, B,lnefitr of Christianity Expla,'nea.
The Iiannony'onnterests ',a solid rational 'basis for
. mOrli.lity. one's ndghbour\urned O\,1t to be a thoroughly
enlightencd 'Y'ay of loving oneselfl'.... We now know", wrote
Mr. Henry Ford as:nicently as i9JO, ," that anythIng 'which Js
. .
:. '. .; ":1;... .". :.. J..':4 t ' " '. ;
: 'Adam' Smith, TAt W,,,,/tA ,/N"'ti,,,,, Book I. ch. :l<1.-eonchliroQ.
" ...' 1PiJ',Bopk IV, do. Ii.' , '".' .... '",...:! .
Q"ol.d In]. M. 1<.0)"11"'-' 1!Mt,,,lf,,,IIIU711,j,,m, p. 7.,
"13
. The Inler.nalio1lal Crisis
economically right jg also morally right. There can be no
d d rr I' JI 1
. conflict between good econoffilcsangoo mora. 5". ". . .... -;'
The 'assumption ora' of
interests is'prima fM;' 10 paradoxical It careful
. In the fcrm which Smith to It,. It bad a
'to the eccncrruc structureof the cightec.nth
century: It presupposed. a. society of smell producers and
merchant" Ilinterested in the. maximisation of production and
exchange, Infinitely mobile .and.adaptable, and unconcerned
with the problem of the distribution of wealth; "Tbose
ditions "'vere .ubstantially fulfilled in an age when production
involved no high and no of
eapltal lin fixed equipment, and ",hen the el... wblch might
be more Interested in the equitable distribution oC'\Vealth than
in Itsritaximum produetion :wa. In.ignlficant and wlt?0ut In-
byacurioul coincidencc, the year which saw
the publieation of Th, W,a/tho! Natio", w.. al,o the year'
in whlioh Watt Invented hi, steam-engine, 'Tbus at the very:
momeritwhen'/a,ssix.ja.rl.theory wu. receivi.ng its,
exposition, its premise. were undermined. by
w.. destined to call into being Immobile, highly sp.etahs.d,
manimoth induslr-iesand a. large and powerful
I terested in distrlbutlcn than In production. Once industrial
become the. recognised
of
a n.W ..!:" we shall
. 3 to
,'ItI 'predominance :WIlli
tho,;' othe community a' a whol. . .
. But .this transformaUon could not have been effected, and
the doctrine could not have survlved at an, but Cor on,. .clr-
The survival of the belief in a harmony.of Interests
wes .rendered possible by the unparalleled exparlolon oC pro-
duction/ population' and prosperity, which marked the hund:ed
yeara :'{!,Ilowing the publlcatlou of T.h,W,a/t? of Nat,o.1Il
and the invention' of the steam-englne, Expandmg prosperity
contributed to the..popularity oC the doctrine In three different
way I t attenuated for .markets :--mong
since 'Cresh mark.t! wereconstantiy available; It
In Ttualo,.. TA' 400, I haTe (.tIedto
tnee lb. erip.,). ' . . .. Sn pp. 80-81.

The Harmony o/Inlerests
postponed the its insistence .cn the primary
importance of equitable distribution,by extending to members
of the Iess proapercus .clasees eome shareIn, the I:cnera,l pro..
! icreatinga .8,enseofconfidence.in present and
I future 'WcII..being',it .encouraged mento believe that the world
,wRJordercdon'lorational .. aplan.asthenatural'narmony of
!Int.crest!; ': ltwas. the contlnUal'l'{ldening oC'he lieIdof\
i demand WhICh, Cor half ac.ntury, made capltt <Jmop.ratq
as 1 It were eHberel utopia.",.' The taclt presuppoaltion of
infinltclycxpandingmarkcts '",aalhe Coundatlonon which' the
i supposed harJllony of Interest! rested. A. Dr. Mannheim
i points out,traffic. control Isunneceasary sc long as the number
i oCcan does not exceed the comfortable capaclty oC the road.'
i Until that moment arrives, It Is e..y tobell.ve 'in a natural
! harmony oC Interest, between rcad-uaers,". .
. What wa, tnle of individual! was_assum.d to be alsQ_1I:.'ll'
Lol!!!o!!!!.':l.':. Sh.ir 9.y!''.!..good,
; unconaciouaficompa..,iIiegood of the whole community. ec
; amine: serve; hnwgni!l: .. Universal free
;.tradew.. justifi.d on the ground thai the maximum economlc
! interest oC each nation was identified with the maximum eco-
i nomleinterest oC the whole world. Adam Smith, who Vi.. a
i practical reforrnl'l' rather than a pur. theorist, did Indeed admit
t tnatgovernmeJlt! .hsveto. protect .certain. Industrles In
! theintereauoCnationai deCencc.-But fluchderogationsseemed
i to him and to hi, Iellewers trivialexc.ption, to the .rule.
: It I,4issl.z;.ja;re ",as]" S.MiUpuu it,".. sbouldr be the
: general rule r every departure Irern II, unle.. requit-ed by.:som.
gr.at good, a certain evll," Qther thlnkere gave the doctrine
, of the harmony of national interest! a .un wider
rr The true interests oC .anatlon II, obaervea a Iete .eighteenth..
century writer, U never yet ,atood in opposition to tbegeneral
! interestof mankind; and It can never happen that philanthropy
i and patriotism can impose on'any marr.Iaconslatent duties." <4
T. H. Green, the English H.gelian who tempered the doctrine,
oChi. muter with concession, to British nlneteenth-century
no action In its own interest of a state
.. Gr-J ,IN"",,.,., 'ItA. Ji.,yGl llUlu,," 4
Ittl#'1fld;m41.Af4irr, P229. ',' J
. L M.nnbelm.NnruA .",( C,"lItt/uifl;", Z"'I.ll,,.tl,., Umlll"', p. io .,
, " J. s. MUI, 1l.lJeok V. & xl.
4 RomlJ11. TA'''TAt, rtf Ilr, ft'fll'""" _/IAI FnMA R",I",;,,,. p: S.
'..
.Th4Itlldrnaliotlal,Crisis
which its idea with aoy,"we'mid",st or
rjglit of general society:' ,I though.ii;s 1ntetesting to note that
the .. true the
century' quotation to. .Interests '.of..the nation,
has been the:,niiu;tl?enth'.
or the. general' .ociety. Mat<ini, who embodied the liberal
.. of
o(.ihvi.ign ofp.bour',bcl'\Veen nations. "'Each "nation "had its
the.
p'crformancc oC.tnl! t:ai1t:.WlIS Its centrlbutlcn-to the wetrare.of
,inthIs spirit; intemi.ilO':;iif
i:pvail... The same;-tondition of
infinite cxpansibilt..y, -.bClie! in the.oe;coilomic
harmony of il,lterest. made belieCin the. 'polliical
harmony of rival national movemenis,' ... One reason :why con-
temporaries ;'C' Mazzini "iiitipmUiiin.a good ' 'waS
that. there were few rec.ogniseu and- plenti-.,-.of: room.
for them. In Gennan;, PoleS',
.and half.".do.en more mitional !groups' yet
.visibly jo.tling :one' anotherover :ini 'itrea: lif'o: huiiare<i .
square .mlles, ii: .was coltiparatiVely;.casy. to-belleve.fhat 'each
.nation, by developing; its own could, it,S:own
special contrlbutlon to:ihe;
Most lib,eral to fO'
, that nAtiOJJS, bY"'dCveJopmg., tbc.a.r. own ,na . promoted
the.
makers of the peace'treatles saw'tn: nadomil scn:acterminatlon
world
Saxon statesmen have peen,frointi!hc tootlm,e:contnt to echo,
probablY.:'I6tfiou.LW-ucli relleiioii"ihc,'olCl- Miiiilii[a,ilomruiiic;>'
i ,'DoNf!inismin'fqJitict .
, When the centenary
10 .1876, there were already'symptomsof an(lIIlpendingbteak.
down. No counW
< ' ._- ._-_...- '.
to
' .. \..... .' ,':.' "I : ..... ,:.'
, T. 11:. Gn:eo. Prilf&iJlu,./ '_litutl/ '" : \., ." .1\, I
Mr. EdeD, for eumple.lll'9J8 advoeatcd u.& comity; ot narioD.lUlwhh:h
eacb can develop and,OoLlwb ILDd, giYe lothelr own lpedil 'con:
tribunon to lhe diversity DC Uf." (Anthonr Eden, )tw,ip Afftlf'rr, p. .
46
Thd .:of ltltdruls
ec.onomic. in.ttre!t:h: or Cree..trade principles outside.
always.been partial, half.;,hearted and short..
lived. Ttu: had rejected'. them {rom the etart,
About 1840. Frledrlch.LlBt, who had spent much tlrne at d '
. d Ial d 'I u ymg
m usjri . eve in the United' States. began to preach
to a German audience the dectrlne that, while free trade was
tIu; ':igqt polley for induatrfally dominant nation like Great
only, protecttoncouldenabJeweaker nations to. break
industries.
. built up behlnd ta:iffs, were Soon seriously impinging
on tJ:e ,,:orld.wlde British mduPllial.monopoly. The British
J;>onu.nlons overseas maqe use of their newlywon fiscal eutc-,
nomy ..to against the manufactures Of the
mothe.: country. ':fhe pressure of was. increasing
on aU .slde..Nationalism begari:to' wear' a'sinister aspect,
and to into imperialism. The philo.ophy of. Hegel
who.' identified r.ea riJ:y with DR 'tenuJllc ryocurri:tg\:onfJict oT
extendedIt!ll ,Inftuenee: Hegel stood Marx:,. who
matulabsM the. HCIlCUan canmet into ij d"s.war (Jf economic'
mtercst-gropps, andworkin!..cl1l59 parties came Into:
. whiChsteadfastly in the harmony of
capital! ,Iali.our, . )11,: propounded
of ,evlll\ltlon through a
f?r,life a,!dtht; .eIi'!Jirlation 'of th'-unfit: .
....ltlwilS. the poctrinc 'of J:;volut!onwhich"{or a time enabled
philosophy ItI with "the.
comhuons and the new trend of thought. Free competition
had alway. been worsWpped.as.the beneficent deity of the
laiu-fosr system. The .French, economlst Bastlat, in a work
significantly.;entltled La'Horin."i", Eco"om,'uu, had hailed
.compctiti.on.. that humanitarian force ..... which continu....
''''''ally'Wrests progress from the hands ofthe individual to make
.it.the common heritage of the great human family.H., ; Under
.,t:ain. of half of the nineteenth
. twas . " Call .In ecoJu)mic ap ere
l at win" 88 a. 100g1ca. aw
of qature-tc survival at .. eo' t e
weaker. .. 'prod",ceri Qr trader was gradually
put ,.o,r
of the
lJa.tfa\,.ur 8""""1'''';111&''''_''''''"1, 'p. 355.;
47
en
(J1
Tile International Crisis
munity as a whole demanded. Laisses-foire meant an .open
field, and the pnzc. fa Diestrongest. The doctrine of the harmony
of interests underwent an "almost imperceptible .modifica.tion.
he ad of the communi or as people were new Inclined
to say,.o t e species w" still identical with the good of it.
individual members, but only were
Ci!Cctivc competiton in the ... went ."
.01l..fro", strtngth to strength, shedding its wealhng.of1lie
wa It Th!e develc ment of the !II ecies"J3.sMuxfiaid,
"-(I t ere orc e 1 er development at In IV! ua I
. can be sccured t aug . C Istorlca precess, Ul. whidi
are 1 Such was theooa?mcoftl'ic hew
age or JntensU1ed economtccompetitionprcachedby
of Herbert Spencer...nd, commonly accepted in Great Britain
in the;; 'scvc:ntiesand 'eighties; . The disciple of .
Adam:Smlth,Yve.Guyot, assisted perhaps by the accident
that the French word ,oneur.rt""means ucollaborationuas
well II competition. If, wrote a work entitled La Morizl, 'de itJ.
Con,urt'en&I. Among Engllsh writers who applied thls evolu..
tionary principle to International politics, the most popular w
Bagehot :
"aMite to those
charii"clen whidttheirnationd. customs have made most 'ilt
towih In war, .anirlii'most'matuJalr&pectslhosc ,.,Inmng
.characten ar-9-!:caIlY._tfi!t,best characters... 1 he.. characters
whkh do win In w.r are the char.cters wlilcl1we should
wisli ',to Win 10 .war.. ,- '.
About the s.me tim R",.ian sociolollist de
fin
;:'
paUik, as U the art of conducting- tbe .!ltwggI; {or f;is'tt::nce
between social organisms" ,J and in 1900 a distinguished pro--
fessor, .in a once famous book, st.ted the doctrine in all Its
naked 'ruthlcs,nen :. . , J
:.rhe path of progre.s Is strewn with the wreck of nation. :
traces arc everywhere to .be seenof the of
races, and oCvictim, who found not' the way the
,. . , "
TAfm". IJ!.,. J.'-"".,nt, IL I. p, 3og.
DaR'hot, PA,lin _J P,/itj" (sad ed,), p,"S-. matdotl fl mattirld fI
mtan in lid. pa..egel DOlI Itmuelr 1 01' I. the writer Q;nIo
clout.or aD UDcomIamble ...lIthu1. betweu ,. D1&tuial" IlDd " moral Jf 1
t. NoTicow,1A P,Uti,_ I,",",tUJ',,,IJ,, p. 2.42
4
5
The Harmony of Interest,
greater dead peoples arc, in very truth
the stepplIlg stones on which mankind has arisen to the hight;
intellectual and deeper.emotlonal Hjs of tc-day.s
Germany, theisarne view was propounded by Treitschke
liandHouSlon StcwartCharnberlain, The doctrine .of progress
;'throughthc of unfit nations aeemed a fair corollary
,'of the doctrme of progress throogh the elimination of unfit
iindividuaJs; .. ... though .not .. alwaysopenly
lavowed,was .m .late
lIn .thc.later nineteeuth .centuFYr U ,an historian
!remarks," basicproble
l11
of inteJ"natian;l1.. relauons was
:wha should of interests
.through the sacrifice. of .. unfit" Africans and
..'.;. .... .. .c >: .... .. '......,
, _ One point b,rJ.Junf'ot Luuate1y, been
Jth!!P XC
a,;,'
the do?trioc or the hJmlQnr:
I
had
prOVIded r.Uon.1 bas. .' The individuaf
a een Interest of the community on t e
jllle. th.t that interest w...I.o his own. e groun had now"
Ibeen shtIted. In the Ion run, the good of the conununity
jand'the aodo . c..' .. . .. . 1liii
I
eventua ... m;.nonY,lmpcccededbyasfrUWe for life betwee;
,1ndliilll .1. 10 whIch not onl but the v , existence,
I
of &: lpser were eliminated altogetherfrom the picture. or.l:
It in these conditlonsh.d no ratlcnal .ttr. '
Ilosersj.nd,thewholee Ic..y.temw.sbuiltonthe sacrifice
10Uhe we.ker broth9'.lnpractlce, nearly every state"had
I mademroads .onthe classic.1 doctrine, Introduced social
I legislation to protect the .economlcally weak again.t the eco-
i nomic.l1ystrong. The doctrine itself died harder. It, -the
, ... ])ostoevsky,. "hoh.dnone of the prejudice. of an
: Engli.hmanoran economist,m.de Ivan KarlUJlazov declare
, that thepriceofadmisslcnto the .. etern.lharmony "was teo
high If It Included tlie.uJferings of the innocent. About the
i .. time,Winwood .Rc;ade. made an. uncomfortable aensation
; In Geeat.Brltain with a. book c.l1edTl,. Martyrdom of MDN,
. whlch drew attention to the immense laIeofsu(fcringand waste
j involved in the theory of evolution. In the 'nineties;. Huxley,
. Karl Punol1,NimilILi/'/rPIIf -] ..
'y, L, Lenger; TA. P"'/""/iI&)' ,lllIIjni"!u"" u. P,19T.
4.
, "
0>
0>
:Tlte ltitema,tona( Crjs:s;
confessed, in the name.of .science, to..the existence of a:dJs..
, h' .i - - . n. 'd th .. hi al .
crepancy between t e protess..".; c, .et rc
proc..s .. ; '. . from the
angle of, philosophy," concluded"that' ",
between" egoism' and altruism.';.,betwe.en the pursuito[ the.
high.est h'appin... f?r oncscu,f'and<the:hig)1""t',happines' 'fdr
other people, can' never be, provided by a creed"wblehrefus
to ad'mit the deeds' done .and.thecharacterformed in,ihis
.- Ufecan tloVil over: into another.aD"d':theie "rec:onciliatJon'
and an adjustment between the conflicting arc'
not alway., possible' here .... Less. and'less Was heardof" the
beneficent properties of,free competition. "Before i9'I4, though,
the policy of internationa]. free ,trade' was' stlllupheld by the
British electorate and by British .conomists;"the ethicalpcstu-'
late which had once formedthe basis of the !,auils-jair. philo:
sophy no longer appealed; ..at, any, rate in lis..,crude 'form,' to
any serious thinker, :'BiologicallyandeconomiCally;'lhe'doctrine
'
of the harmony of interests.was,tenable olilyiryou-Ieft 'out of:
account the interest 01 the we;ik'Wii;;;;;;t' be driverito tbewaii; .
. or caUed10. the next world to, redress .thebldahc:,.of the 'present:'
-- '.. f '.' ......: ,'; ,. [
Til; Intlrnatiotldi-HQ,.;';ony , "
, .' ,.". .'
Attention has drawn 'tc curious way 'in which
trine, already obsolete or obsolescent before the war,'of' 19J4.1
werS reintrodljccd in largCly
lospintti?n, '"into,the 'field of.
affairs. This would appear to be.'.. tonspieuously' true' of"the-
of the ,harmony ofi?tere,..ts,' lii:the United:
States; the of' laims:!"i"..' presents'spedar .featUres:-
Throughout the ..:
\udcli the United ..
competition, hold
ing domestic market of , In:
Great Britain, which., ....
' trade: but was "ira,n; and'
at homc,.J.-.S. :.crlung
to .Internaticnal free trade;:but'.madc"more 'and-more- tnroads
l
into. /a/sui.. j a;,.4 orthodoXy'.. in.. 'the' :In
I Huxley, Remanet Lecture, 1893. 10 Zt!"!uti,,tI _J EMu-i"p,'BI,
l B.lfour, f,"IJ"Jolil1 (I/. p. 21..
SQ.
T;'. Hannimy of Inf.reS/s
Carey and, his SUCCCS,Iors justified protective
. but. in other respect maintaIneli the immutabl
prInciples of:. Iqisus.ja.'r. , In' after 19
19,
planned
economy, on the no natural har-
mony. Qf inter.c:sts and that interests must be artificially
by state action," became the .practice, if not the'
In theUnited States, the persistence
0.: ... domestic market ,staved .of! this development
c natural harmony of interests remained an
p,of the Am,erIean view 0 If.: and-in this aslit
. ...ect.!l,. theories ,.t anfernafional pdhucs we:f'!
, With the American tradition. oreover, t ere
for teres y acceptance of the doctrine
sphere. .,In domestic affairs it is clearly
t ,e; .the to create hannony if no harmony
2: 0 It cs erc JS .no. orgamse: -ower
c t e tas 0 creatin .harmony ;080 t e tern tat10n
. t ere are artl r' .
excuse for burklng. -To make the
Ii._. n,salion of interests the goal .l'2!!!i.al ,acfron 's not
t . J!.armQ.ny .
i"" ,lind .t is ili;s latter postulate which has caused so
',fa,Dtusion' ill' international thinking. . .
. I".
.;
:. . Tit, Common Intlrest in P'a&4
;'1."t. ; t.... ". :. . .. '. .
," .. 1 the lioctrlne of the ilienUt of ' Interests has
.1 e 0 an' assumption t at
... 10 peacs. !Iud that any nation which
,,';s{es tt: ...!he eace is t e both irrationaland
ThIS, view bears clear marks of jts Ang 0- axon
191,8 .tc -convlnce that part of man..
.eountries .that war':profits
.. ':lid pot Seem partjoidadx' convincing
to who had " ofiled ,Ia,rgely from the w.tts of 1866
tot .'i ." ..... -, .' .', I I. .....
.. f' .'Jhe between th J two ",u;admln.bly. lIJustrate4" br.nj'nterIection
. 0 .. Mrr.. .A\1lee !Jl\l.ba HOUle of '::1t.."a. preoisel;' the object of !.he
of QI.e :{.eague9( Nation. the prelelyatioD. of puce wU ...conunOD.
10lUot 'It the O-lbl!'I-ot :11.)937.: R.p_t,
col. . Mr.Attlel;.apPAr-enlir (I!iled to di.lioguilb bet14-l!eR the p,opolhllm
<Ifinte{uts.exi.ted aJ1d the propolitlon that th" Lngye
of had create 0011. . ., ." I
5'
.The Itllema/iotlal Crisis
and I tl70, and attributed their more recent sufferin 8, not to
war 0 "1914, but to-the act t at e bad lost it; or to
Italians woewar but e'treat. '0 a. es
.!fhi the peace-settlement jor to Poles a!
who. Jar from deploring war.
national exlstenee -to it; ._ or"to Frenchillen; who could not un..
"ret a war whlchbad restoted Alaace..LOrralneto
to . eo le of other nationa Ues who remembered
profitabJe:11:..q,J.mge by reat "tam'a . te c. tates.
in thlL;l!llt. But these people had forttinateir little influence
over the onnation of current theories of international relations,
which emanated almost exclusively ercim'the English.speaking
countrlei.- -'British ana American writers continued _to assume
that the. uselessness of war had been irrefutably demonstrated
by the' experience of '9'4-18, and thatan intellectual grasp
of this.factiwas aUthatwa3,necessarytoindu'ce the nations to
keep the future i and they were sincerely puasled
'u wen as disappointed at the failure of other countries to share
this ..' '..
The confusion was increased by the ostentatious readiness
of to flatter the AngloSaxoll world bi repeating
its slogans. In the fifteen aft"r the first world war, every
Great :Pow.er(except,perhaps,;Italy) repeatedly dld Ilp-servlce
to the .doctrine by declaring peace to be one of the main objects
of its policy.' But as Leniriobserved' longago,.peace in itself
is . " Absolutelyeverybody is in favour of
peace ,iQgenetal inc1uding'Kitchener,
]offre,'Hindenburg and Nitholas the Bloody, for everyone of
them wish.. to end the war.'" The common interest in
mUlt pre..n;unlit comeb,Jore aU 'LI-.pu -I iI.litIJII:
N;NJA AIl'lffl1. p, 83)-. "The mdattDaan of peal:f It th.6ntobJedI.,.. o(
Brltbh. foreJppollq"(Edeo. Liqvt'l N.ti,lU: Si.tHttIAdlm",IIy, p.J06).
"Pel,l. our de,rutti;e"ufC.".(HltJit, la a ,pltich lDthe Guq$n lleiehtta Oil
JIIJIU'rr: 30,1937. reporttid In TAl Tifffll.Februt'T I, 1937).... "Th, .,' rlndpa'
,1m or th. latem'floa,1 policy. of the. Som: 'Union b lba ):lrestm\lon 0 II
(Chicherin In TAt' Snrill Un'..." .NJ.P,.n (l929), p. '49): n 111"obJl!el or].p.o,
dupite :prop.g&Dd.. to the CODtnt1.l' h peace ,L,qw ./ Jt"lfflff;l:
Sj",-.lAlmflll,rx9.32<;'3J. lU. P.13).The paudty' orIta1JaDproruxuu::emmb 1D
ruour o( peace "'at prob.bly npl.tlled by the poor nputathm .,r ItaUan b"vopsU:
fiihten:t. MUhOUnl lured th.t aayemph..de upreilloa of' prefumCG for peace
would be construed u:u -,dmJulvn that ltalTbad DOIlomach for ,.,.,.. ,'. .
LenJn, Cf'lhc/,t1 W".,b (Eaal.triin,L). XTW. p;"640' CompI.reSpwer
WllklmQU'1 dlctwn: nIt It Dot puce but that 11 La each cue
real object. The trolh tuDot be ltlo ofieu nputed tbsi priCl! Is oner the objed

The HamwtlJ of Interests
!masks the fact desire to maintain the Jfai'!
i ". without havmg to fight for It, and tq change th"
; rI{ltru ua without avin t06 ht'ln order to. do 80.1
i at It IS in, the interest of.t either
, a ,e UQ. S ou or that it should be
J e , would be cohtrary tathe Jacts. The statement at
! . ole.that.thc conclusion
! eventually.reached, wh.ether maintenance or change, should bq
rea,hed. bypeacefuLmeans, wouldcomrnand. general assen)!
seems a .. The utoplan aslump.
o at there. IS a;worldint&est lneacewhich is identlfia6le
with theint ..t .of each in ivl ua na on e pe po IUc,ans
an 0 ca. wrl ten ev here tc eva e e unpa ala e act
f iJ. fun amenta .ver cmce0 nterest between na anI eSlrOUlI
; of'maintainin e status "OM nations. CSlrous oc an 10
, it.
s
A peculiar combination. of p atltude and falseness thus
became endemic in the pronouncements of statesmen about
-lnternatlonalcaffairs...... In Danubian. area n,said
a .Prlme Minister a! C%echo--Slovakia," no One really- wants
conflicts and jealousies. The various .ccuntrles want to maintain
their independence, but otherwise they are ready for any
co-operative .meesurea. lam thinking specially of the Little
Entente, Hungary and Bulgaria." 'Literally the words-may
pass as true. Yetthe confltetsand jealousies which nobody
wanted were a notorious feature of. Danubian politics after
1919, and the .co.oPeration for which all wi:reready was un-
obtainable;,!:be fact of divergent interests was disguised and
falsified by the platitude of a general desire to avoid conflict,
of potierty'oUcaunutdefine peaceexeept by ,eerenCtl to "".', wblcl\ i, ,. meahi
aDdDrrre, aD.tl:ul"(GIWnfIrf,.t tA, W"';,p. . .
...tot cotdl'1.. people do not knoW' the thinE' belonging to
their peaeelwbat he ,."aUT mtlatul, lh&tth.y do DotluffidenLlT care ,bout tbll
to hJJ pesee I' (TA, N#I,.D#,It, _/S"""I,1 Bull"., ed,Felting.
]qnti. pp.2IJW12).. TlUtwuutd leem Ia be hUll o(thole 1.Utrdllr ..Inti, the
eaU.fied POWe.... .. .'.'
J It luometiruU Dia1aLl..b1ed Dtrfmertilythat.,n n.tlolUlhaTo' an equal inlere.t
in' piefcirlng peace to ...,..r (whlch h, lu. nnte, bue),but that.".,. caD.aerer III
anrdrewa.tanca brlucto I1e 'rietor adnnlagu cotnl*11ible 'With Its cUlt. The
latter dou Dot ..ppear tobo tru. of the patt,thoulh It I. pouible .to upe
(udtreJ J)utrp.d Rwatil, WAk" tlQt It btnle o( Plodr.m,warlue.
U .c:eepted,. th1J 'rie1t leads. of coUrn,to J fvr there Ino reuoa
to iUPlJo1e th.t It I, sny truer of" ... lb.n or" ofl'emln ., w.r (....umlnr
the di,dnc;tjOllbei....tf!D them 10 TaUd). . . '.. ," I .'. '
I DltiV T,I'rr.pA, Aupst 26. 1938.
. 53
The Harmony of Interests
not a! fe:w
\': rn IS (or, #i1S reuon. iliat. we fuldlh the rnodern period an
.extr,lordipazy. .hetween. the. theories of. economic
;.Q;perts and .the practice of those responsible for the economic
.p! their r pectlve-countrle.Analy.is will shew that
. froms. simple fact . 'Theveconcmle
in the main by laus-/a.'r. doctrine, con-
.the , eco.nomio. interest of. the world .'as a I
and ,11 that .this ia .Identlcal with the!
couPU'Y.. 'r.he-politician' the
c9"cr.t. of, his. counlr)'l .and (if h. makes any
'asaumptloq that.lhe,llller.st of the world as .. whole is
..I-,,wit\1 it. ",Jif.arly .yery pronouncement of ,.v.ry inter-
JJatlonal c'conomicSffitete'iC$ IlCld betWeen the tWo wOrld wars
, i iated hill Bsaum tian. that there w.oIQp1C ." soludon"
,. 1 " J,.' h h .' d' -.----.
an I. ,wl,if ,..,Y,aJu lClOUL-a ancmg:..9.p
bl! equally favourable to.flll and'prejudicial to none.
...... : . '. 1.,. ; ., .' .' '." '. ,- .
.., p.olic)' t1ie:'L.agu.
of. exp.!U. 1927] IS .'hartJ.lful 'not
o_nly'. to the' natlcn whleh practises It but also to the others
a'nd theteCorc' defeata its"own.endv artd lCit be desired that
the "n." siat. '-of mind' 'revealed by 'the COnferenee should
lead rapidly topracticalreiultS. any programme oC execution
must as '..n f..ctor, the prlnclple 'of para/III
.or -actlonby the nallone, Everycountry
.will then know that 'the coriceselonalt is ... ked to make will
be, balanced' by corresponding sacrific.s. on the .part. of. the
;other'C\>untries. It "will, b...bl.to accept the proposed
measures..not merely in view of its own individual position,
:out also o',aus. it is i"terest.d i" the succus of lh. gm.ro/
.pla" laid.dow" by the. Co"/.rm,,,' . , .
"...,;..'.,.;\'...,:.') ': t::" .:':1" .'. . ,; .'. '. .; .' .
...!h. ,'.,\'!e!. .,;,: tll: .t. "cglpct of all
. 'r ommendB;tion, unaQi 0 __ mA__ Ad if we are
.:: .' . 1 eJrp' anation t . a. .
fitati:srnen , .. ..... . l ._.... we ma.y
.. be I a} ' It,eems
. .. fa. )5 neces
sarily detrimental to' states which practise it" In the nineteenth
.. century, Gennany and the United .Sta.tes, by pursuhrg. a
.. .. , " : --
, ,..,." / IC.E.I:44. p. 21 (Il&UCI in orlainal).. :.1
"
T/u Htirflatio,!al Criiis
I .,... .
Kat-motiy
. ;.'.10.. .- .. ....
In economic relations, theI assumption DC a. genual harmony
of 'Was made. with"even' greater confidencei . for here'
weh..v... dlrect rellex1on.oC.tli. cardinal doctrine' of
economica, and if: is. :here, that we:'can sec, most: clearly the-
dllemm.. ;which results. from tlie -doctrine, Whenth. nine:;
teen!b.. llhctAlIPRWtthc.grcRtcst of the grj:ateii
nll.!"b.r, h. tacitly. 'pC the mlnority 'E!Jiht'
to 'eguaIll'
to International economic reIabons..-. If.!,Russla:orl Italy. for:
example,. were not. to. buMU Industries wiffiOu,..
lh. protection OCiOriits,. en thela"'",- a.r. ioer .wou .
h.ve sbou!dUC-coptiiiit"tO:impjia Briljshaii'd
German the'
. !lr.iU,hwliGcaiUtnJDJll:kclsiJ.anygn. had ther.upon 0 jeci;;i\'
,lh..t thl would condemn'.Russii;anif:Jtaly.-to -r.main'
sccond.r;;at ,:Oww"iCiiiiQjiif'riDx and' militarily.. dependent on
th.ir n.i h t ajr."lib.ral woil1d have ,liii(f'to';
"answ.or th..t this 'Was -the will" 0 rovldence-andth..tthls w..s
what ifi;e-encral haWQnv ofintsfcsts The.modern!
utopian int.rn..tlonalist enjoy.' ndn."oC th., ..avantages;"':amI,
tlie.
Tbe m..tenal 'Qf the w.aker"'l'ow.rS"m b . llig up.
protected industries, "',w.Uas the n.w,spirit,of intcm..tion..l-
ism, :pr.dud. him frolb. arguing. th..t the harmony'o(interests
depends On 'the sacrifice' or;economicaUy unfit'nations.: YetI
the abandonment ",fthis premiss destroys the: whole, baai' ot
-the \v4ich,.h...has inherlted,;'; ,an\l)"!e is to the,
belief that the :co!"mon good can b. ' ..chi.ved :without any
s..crific. 'Qf the good of ..ny individual' m.mber ofthi!: 'com-
m.lJriity. ". E;ve,y ...
and;musory.. It,is.only thC!'common,good;
which is ..t the .ame time.thehigh.stgood of all I'
and: only "lh. folly. of stat ..
coyery. ,:' ..
common good, arrogat to, hlm.c1f,tli.monQpoly'6f. wl.sdoin;i
statesme' . . '. .'. r:
e blindness \the 'intcre5t"'of'tliosc'(:whom
,Sila-1VRR the' UICtu[e at'
scene in all
S4
.Tilt [nternaiional' Crisis
n strictly nationalistic policy"t had placed themselves in' a
position to challenge Great Britain's virtual monopoly of world
trade. No conference of economic experts, meeting in J8Bo,
could have evolved a fl general plan" for"'parallel or concerted
-actlon " which would allayed the 'ecohomic rivalri es,of
the a manner. equally' advantageous. to Great' Brlteln,
Germany amI the United States. It was not Ies, presumptuous
to suppose that ".7.' could allay
the eccncrnle rivalries of the later "period by'\. " plann bene...
ficial' to the interests of everyone. Even the econornlc crlsls.
of 193<>-33 failed to bring home to the economists the true
nature of the problem which they had to face. The experts
who prepared the" Draft Annotated Agenda" for the World
Economic Conference of I933tondemned the II world...wide
adoption of ideals of national self-sufficiency which cut unmis-
takably athwart the lines of economic development ".1 They
did not-apparently pause to .refiect that those so-called "Hues
of economic development ",which mighlbebeneficial to some J
countries and .even to the world as a whole,woul? inevitably
be detrimental to other: countries, which. were using weapons
of economic nationalisminscU-deence.TheVan Zeeland
report of January 1938 began by asking, and an.wering in the
. affirmative, 'the question ,whether." themethods which, taken
as a whole, -form the system of international trade i, are 'f funda-
mentally preferable n to It autarkic tendencies ". Yet every
Power-at some period of its history, and as a rule for prolonged
has resorted to" autarkic tendencies ". It is difficult
to believe that there is any absolute sense in which II autarkic
tendencies "are alwa.ys detrimental to those who pursue them.
Even if,: they could be justified only as the l..ser of two evils,
the'lnltial premise of the Van Zeeland report was' invalidated.
'. But there was .worse to come. tl We must .. ,make our
dlepcaitlons ", continued .M. Van Zeeland; "in sucha. way
that the new system shall offer to all participators' advantages
greater! than those of the position' in- which they' now fino
themselves," J '!hh,is e,conomicUl?planism in its most .pur-
blind' form. The report;' like the reports of 1927 and 1933.
assumed the existence of a fundamental principle of economic
, '
, N4"t.nU1 C48,.M.18,1933. li, p, 6.
, _ lA, P6u;MI,'Jy_ 6/ OjlfU;,i"T GnttraJR,alltlitm "I fAI
OIt"/11 I, J'U'#,.,,41l#lfJ Tru,. ClIId, 5648.
Tiu Harmony of interests
! policy whose application would be equally beneficial to all state'
Iand detrimental to none; and-for this reason it remained like
,its predecessors,a dcadletter., ,_.'
. , conomictheouoppoJcd tc econornle ractice, was so
w lOt eo ryoe . ceo t e two wor wars
e.suppoaed harrnenycf intenStS that it is difficult to
e mall em erna lona IIftuSllonlll 0 no;;.:::J
; clear exposllOn 0 ,rea fa lemw 1 ba he statesmen
. 1 0 e wor .. .... er aps. e ... ran est. statement was one "made
, t?e l'ugo.lav Foreign Miljisler ilt the .e"ion of the Com-
.ffilsslon for-European Vnion iDlJanuuy 1931. Arthur Hender-..
son, on behalf of Gte"t Britain, following the Netherla'nd
delegate Dr.. Colljn, hod pleaded for an all-round tariff reduc,
lion II which must. bJr its nature, bring benefit to each and all
by allowing that expansion of production and-International
exchange or wealth by wbteb the common prosperity of all
can be increased ".I'Marillkovitch,whospoke next. concluded
from the Iallure tc carry out thcrecom'mendations ofthe 19 27
Conrerencc,that Ilthe,r:e were extremely Important reasons
why the govenunents could not apply" these r..olution... He
went on: .
The f"ct is that apart from economic considerations there
are also political and social conside:rations-. The old" things.
will-right..thc
Olsclvcs
"sChooloCcconomists >arguedthat if
nothing were done and events were allowed to follow' their
natural coursc.fromancconomic point oC.view, economic
equllibriumwould come about of it. own accord. That is
probably true (Ida not propose to dleeuee the point): But
how would that equilibrium come about 1 At the expense
of the weakest'. Now, as you are aware, for mere than
j-eers. there has been a powerful and growing reaction against
this theory of economics. All the socialist parties of Europe
and the world are merely the expression of the opposition
to this way of looking at ecenomle problems.
Wc'\Vcretold$at ,",cought tolowercuatoms barriers
and. even abolish . them. A:5 for a. the agricultural .tates
of, Europe are concernedriftheycould keep the promises
they made in 1927- admitting that the statements of 1927
did containproml... - and could corry that policy right
through, '!"e mIght perhaps .find ourselves able to.
LttpJ 4 N4Iilm: M-4S. 1931. nJ, p.31l1.
S7
-..J
o
Tiu Jni4r1totionol Crisis
own against. oveti... comp.tiUpn' in the .matter of agri-
products, . But. atthe same time we should have to
CtC:ltc in Poland, ::Roum;ptia and ... the same. ..
ditlons as exist. in Canada and the Arg.ntine, where vast
territcries ere inhabited.'bya scantypopulation and where'
machinery and 'other employed ;W. 'could
notsacrlfic. ourp.opl.'by shooting..them, but would
nevertheless b. to.
the sam. tMng. ". c. ,,' "" ' . ,,' .
I am sJre that' key"to which M; Colijn r.f.rred
does not too. complicated'
'to allow DC a soIution;,by any onc,Jonnula f it callsfor 'cern..
plicat.d'solution.. ,Wee. shall. havetotake into account the
many varieties DC. 'geographic"al, political, social and ether
conditions which exiat.
1
'. .
. ,
Marinkovltch went _(m' to 'dlspose of the' theory of the " long...
run harmony'of .. '
La;t year, inthe I heard
.that .l.he small ..
maize or a'
wood which belonged to them''';:::. and,were.livi.ng en. what'
they earned by lIing.the wood. ... , .I :went ti) the' village,
collected togetll.r '0"" of the. I.ading Inhabitants and en-
deavoured to' reason' with them. just like the great indue-
trial s'tates reason w,ith :I : "If
plenty of common sense.''You e that your for ti. becoming
. smaller and .smaller.. Wh.at will. you.de.when. Y9u :"!'I down
the last t!ee 7''' ' Th.y repltedtorne. Your ,E"".U\",cy.
that is a \,oint which worri ... u.,:. ..
what should w. do 'now if we stopped cutting. down our
trees ? n . . . " "
I; '. l assure that: the' agncutturaJ .. are.. in
.......You them 'fu'niri;
'dJs.. :bul 01 d,saster.'"
I., :,', '. ".',' . _
On. further example of quoted.
Sp.aking in September .1931'Oveh"ie"oHh.:,Umted States
"'broadca.ting .y.tem., th';;Pr ident of the Colombian'R.public
said :. . W , t
. In no field of human activity are the benC'fits__
as' clear as in the 'telationships .between natiom ana especially
I LA.pl 1/ NtI,,-,,,.r: C.I.... M,4Sf 19)1, vii. p. Jt, II' n'-d. p. 3i.
Sa
Th Harmony of l"terests
of the American nations, If it ill true that the economic
-relatlone have become rigorous and at times harsh, it is also
true that they have fortunately becqme more democratic.
. crisis freed many countries which had up to then
pn to the, double mental .and financial Im-
.perialj,sm of the natlona which controlled international
markets and policieS. Many learned to trust less
Inlernational-cordiality and to see,kanautonomous life, fun
or initial obstacles but whicJ;rneyerthetcss created strong
.IDteresu, wlthin Il short time, . . .
When the arbitrary 5Y,st.m. that prevail to-day begin to;
be relaxed, there will be ... w.aker International trade but
will a.!.so bel humber oC economically
51I'ong. . , '
.. Economic co-operation'to:day is very different and more
noble thing than 'the old' co-operation which was based on
the convenience of Industrlal countries' and of bankers who
tutored the world.. The certainty acquired by many small
nations that they can subsist. and prosper without subordlnat-
ing their conduct and their to foreign' interests has
begun to introduce a greater frankness and equ'al1ty in the
relations between modem nationa 'I',
, It Is true that the cri,is has shipwrecked many high and
".noble principles. of our civilisation; but it is also true that
in this return to a kind of primitive ,struggle for existence.
peoples are being Ireed of many fiction. and of much hypo-
, crisy. which they had accepted in the. belief that with them
they were insuring their well-being. ,'
" The foundatlcn or lnternatlonal economic freedom lies in
'.. the recognlttonfhat when strong place, themselves
. on the defensive, they act just like the weak ones do, and
" that all of. them have an equal right to defend them lves
,,< .witlt their ownrescurees.!
: Tb. mad. on b.half of 'the' Colombian' Republic
were perhaps cxagg.rated. ' But both the Yugo,lav and' the
Colomblan statements were powerful challenges. to the.doctrine
of. the .harrnony or .Intereata; ')1 j. (aUaey to'
. becausc.Gx:ea.t Britain and tlie United 5tatca have an interest in
th.c..rep?-ov,l this is .. Y,!J_go.
s.!iriJuuui. Colom.bi!:: Internaflonal iiiif. 6. 'weaker. Th.
Addre.. 'broadeatt by th" .. Broadeuthili! Sylleru., U.S.A:, OD
Srpterubu 19, 1937. and pubU.hed 10 Ttl/Mr, Odober 1937
S9
60
Th Harmony of Interests
for the current <theory....... "vVith soma difficulty the illusion was
kept alive till 1914. Even British prosperity; though its founda-
tions 'were menaced by Gennan and American competition, .
cpntimied to expand. The r.ear 1913 was a record year for
Brliiih trade. '
"e> ..n f: the a harmony to the tra..!!,Sparen!
'tlash" elfinterests mayp' aced a out t of centu.
enough; it found Its first OX ression ih colon aI
n. c. flUS .mlnd,ltw
asprim
y assocrateo , Ith
e'(ents in .South AIrica. Churchill dates the beginning of
times "'{rom the Jameson. Raid." In North
and"the Far East, there was a hasty scramble by the
Powers to secure', the Je.w eligible sites which were
.!!tlyatant. Emigration of individuals from Europe, the point
Hr."prlncipal. tension, to. America ..sumed unparalleled dlmen-
iions .. In Europeitse1f,anti..Semitism - the re-current symptom
tit economic stress-s--reappeared afier along interval in Russia,
.C;ermally and Frallee. In. Great' Britain; agitation. against
uarestrlctedallen immigration began inthct890',; and the
&st.iet controlling immigration WRI passed in
. ":,, The first world war which g
tens on, R avatelt tenfold b intcnsif in itl fundamental
....iiii.... Inbelllgerent and neutral coun eo in Europe, s.a
';n:d"'Ainerlta; industrial . andagrleultur.:t production were
artificiallystimuiated. Arter the war every country
Itruggled tomain\ain its expanded production; and an en-
.haneed. and Inflamed... national.conscioulnesawu invoked to
JUltify 'the sb\lggle.: One reason for the unprecedented
dietiveness 'of the eaee treaties ' ., If
.c :;lUses, ... .. men DOlqDgei: believed
',_.!!. !Ii_ev i!f!y"oJ an,
underlying b!!:IE.0nr of
.. &competltor, a reVival of
menace :urope, the
"ilfUggle waiintenolfied by the creation or new stat.... and new
economic frontiers. In Asia,Indla and China built :up large..
Beale manufactures themselves Independent Qf imports
, WhutonCburthlll;W"./J c-a p. d.
I The rue tm:ouraced the p'lrlh of Zlonhm;' (Ot Zi+ll.rn, u
the 'Palutine Royal CommlaloD. of 1937 remarked... on III lIeptin tide it a
ereed or dCllpe
n
Cmd..H79. p, Ill. .'
6i
Th6 Inlrnationa] Crisis
from Europe. Japanbecame. .. and other
cheap. goods which. undereu.t mllpufactures' on the
world' market" .were-no ' more
open apac.. anYW!fere awaiting cheap.
ment and exploitation. 'The ampleavenu.., ofmIgration'which
had relieved the economic ..
closed ;: and in place of the natural. flow::'of mjgrationcam. the
problem .of fdrcibly 'evicted refug....r. :The'q,qipl.x -pheno-
rnenon knowd as eccnomlc ,nationalJsm over.::".t1;le .:W,orld!
The fundamental .character." "dash. oC..interests:. becam;'
obvloua-to all, except those conlirmed'-utoph,ris who domlnated
economlc rthoughf In the- Englilh.speaJilng:countri... The
hollowness of the glib..nlneteentli-centuiy. plafltude that nobody
can benefit from.what hanns:',anothcr Thebasle
utopianism ,.' : ':::"1 i.
What confronts us in intemational'polltics:io-dliy!s, there.
fore, nothing' less .than t1ie",com l.te,bankrU t,.ol ".01.' 'con-
.ccption 0 mora IltW c' u: om a:P;C?Ji. ',_
thou.ght for a' cen!,"!Y Up
po.s, ble to deduee 'virtue :.from,niffit. reaJIoJilng; .because: It 'ii
'!'! longer .erlOiiSlY I Itate,' bY
punt,iing ofTh.
!!Qod vitr,w.r. . .
of morality and rat n the'au . tTil"'m"w lch
it was . ' .. 1 era
e_inner' meaning: oLihe ":J:rlirir-i3...thc .....
. collapse of the"
.concept .of the 'genera-dan
will r::: can
do thIS, b_Q ta__c __ i. .3 .;:r; :salvEd;fl'<! ,,the;
,-ruin!, we must examtne-the. flawIS in':thc""lItructU"rc"whieh
1
led -to
.
. of jhe +:' . .....X "I
I.,.. ...". I ,: ''''', ,: ' ,- j;':,: ..-. ..: "
. I The exJllence of reluCee. lymploJQ
and polillcal b'beraU,m,' Reruaeet are'lbe br'product of
which. h.. pncde-llr.Iopped {n. (J. Hope Slmploll,:' R'!ful""""
illl""' 4." $",,:,,9'> P.J93). ' '.
5',
THE REALIST CRITIQUE
..,'
" t .. .
Tit. Foundations of Rialism
; t, ...' . "
FoR. reuons explained' in 'a 'prevIous chapter. reeusm. enters I
the field Car behind utopianlsm and by way of reaction frcm it.1
The' thcaij, that, .. justice is ther; deb;" oCthe stronger U was,
indeed, familiar in the Hellenic-world, ' But it never represented
anything morC' than the protest of an unlnfluential minority,
puzzled liy the divergence between political theory and political
practice." . -th.. of the Roman Empire, and
later 'of t&I problem could nucJly"'ai-isc j'
.fOr the political 1l00d, first of tbe empire, the!\.ii't!l>e
could be'r. ed as Identical with moral .. only
WI the' break-up of tho mediaeval sylltem that. the divergence
between"poliil""l theory: and political practice became acute
and challenging. MachiavcJli is the, figt important political
r.eaUst.-, ",*,i '/H'! I. ,I ': .: ". ".:' .
, . Machiavelli's starting.point Is a revolt againat the utopianism
of current political. thought : .. ,' .: . . ' ". '
'J". : ...... "v , 11:;", ,',l" . .". I : " .... '.
. It. being 'my to. write. a thing whieh shall be
'!'usefur'to"hlln who apprehendait, it'a'ppcan to me more
: . appropriate..to Collow up, the .real truth of ,a matter than the
Imagination. of. It; Cor .many- pictured republics and
. principalities' wllich in fact have ncvtt been Seen and known;
'because now one lives'is ao far distant froin how 'one ought
tol\v... who do?e .for 'ought
.. 10 b. done sooner eJfetts h.s ruin than hls'preaervatlon;
_ " .' ,.... ..,. ;',' '. "1' - ..:' j" ; ,i .
The-three c5Scntial,tcnets lrnpllcltIn Machiavelli's doctrine are
the founda\lon-ston...of the realllt phllo.ophy.:" In the, first
of etrect" ..Q.W'!'.!!
can e an I ; an .un cratoo Intellectual effort. but not
u e lans e ieve eeted b "'irml ",
'. . .....llt as't I! uta create but
p'i-actice In Mac av .,s . words, ":;' goo counsef5:
whencesoever they' come, are born of...the wisdom of the .prjncc,
6J
Tlte International Crisu
and not the wisdom of the prince from good counsels ". Thirdly,
olitics Brcnal as theuto ia 5 etendj e function of ethics,
but et I en": are .kept honeat by constraint .
Machiavelli reca ised thew ortanceomora tr, ut aug t .
__at ere could be no effective.mOT It)' w ere ere Wa& ,.no
effective authority:, "Morality is the productoC power.!
The-extraordinaryvlgour.and vitality of
Ienge orthodoxy" ';;"y be Il.ttested by'the fact that, more than
(our centuries after he wrote, the most conclcsire-wey- of .
political opponent is still todescrlbe him as&.
disciple of Machiavelli.- l1,!!,on wa. 9ne oL*.",fir.lf;J!l..prais!,
him for "!faying openJ:g and without hYR2!=risy what men are
in the habit of doing. not whet they ought to do.:':" Henceforth
no political thinker could ignore him, In. France Bodin, in
England. Hobbes. in the Netherlands .Spino.a. professed to
find a ;compromise between the new doctrine and the conception
of a II law of nature"copaUtutinga.suprtmeethicalstandard.
But aUthree were in substance realists: andthe age or Newtpn
for the first time conceived the possibility of a physical science
of politics.- The work of Bodin and Hobb.......rit.. Prof..sor
H to se arate ethics from. oliilcsjand'to com lete
.bytben:) ::;n, tbe divislon which M..chlav l' ad ecte
i
I
I
I
I
!
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
i
!
I
I
I
Th Realist Critique
had contributed more to the understanding of politics than
men of theory II and, above all, theologians"; for fI they have
put ex.perience. anq have therefore
taught nollting which does not bear upon our practical needs"'.'
In .antlcipationof Hegel. Splno:z:a declarea jhat II every m:m
does:wha.t laws of his nature and to.
thehighestrightot nature ".' 'Jhe way is thus opened for
becomel'in the last Lu.[ysis'lthe Btud,
'. . I.
realism di.ff\!t'Bt
trom .. that of the sPttemth' and. aeventecDJi\ Both
utopianism Gnd r..Us,;; ",:'c'-pieif' in their
he etg"hTCenlJ].CeRtu17 belld m progress;;..;rili the
curloulandsomewhat aradoxlcal ";eiwCthat :realism became
a emote mote Hprogressive... t an utop anism. Utopia;;..
ism graftedlt.a be leiUprogresson tOlt56ehet In
whicfi reinamed,;:
having
andrelatlvist. ProgressbeclJIlcpadof the inner essence of
the . historical process ;...arid mankind .was moving forward
towards a goal which Wa.s left undefined, or was differently.
defined by differentphUosophera. The"
.l!erm.apx! its :i!..lr:ced
lliiO..!1.J,h \liii\\",-t. a"iiil""Narx: .But no country
in .. WesternEurope, .aad nc br.anch. of tbought,was
from its influence in the middle and later years of the nineteenth
century; and thi. development, while it has freed realism from
the pessimistic coloUring.imparted to it by thinkers like
Machi'avelli and Hobbes, has thrown its determinist 'character
Into strongerrelle!". '. ; . .
The idea of causation in history is as old as the writing or
history itself.:. 1lut soiong as the belief prevailed that human
affairswercllubject tolliecont1nuoussupertision and oecaslonal
intervention of !i.. Divine Providence. no philosophy.Of history
based on a regular ,of eause and effect was likely
to be.evolved.The: substltutionof reuonforDivina Providence
_enabled Hegel to ph,d'!ce: iiiife. ,!_p.@@iP.!1.r-
j.r.tIPllaJ .. HI!el. while
U!\!miPg.a...regu!lll:lUld ..o.r.dl:rlf.pOll;.<:JlJ"-"rJlJ_g>ntent to nnll
}ts dirmiru: '! z: .
SpmoPl, Tt'tUllIIJ,1I PP.23. /iu/. lnlroduct:ion. .
.
Th. Int.rnational Cdsis ,
But once the historical conception oC realIty had established
itself, it was a short step to Cor the ,abstract, Z..'tg..:rt
some concrete material'Corce. The economlc.intcrPrctation DC
history Wal .not invented, but-develop..danCi"p'!'Puhtthcd'by
Marx. ' About the IBmetime Buckle propounde.F"g,,?gt;!,phical
interpretation ef hlatcry whlch'ccnvlnced blm ,.ERin'
were .. permeated by on.', glorious principle>oC u'!hr....al and
undeviating If; I and this has been.revlved. in "the
fonn of the sfience. or
gecgrsphy aI ' a political Spengler
believed that events were byquall-bio!<:lgi.a11aws
govemlng the growth and decline oC ci;,.msations. Jd,orclectlc
thinkers interpret history as the product oC a ,varl.ty oC material
factors, and the policy ,of .: group or 'nation .as a-roll.xion of
all the materlalfactorswhlch 'make up the group, or national
interest. H Foreign. policies", .said .Mr.::'Hughes. during his
tenure. of office as American Secretary DC State.... arc not .bullt
upon abstractions. They are the result. DC. national' interest
arising from some immediate exigency,,,r standing out vividly
in historic.a! perapecuve," J. Any suchlntcroretatlon or-reality;
.te
r m
, of a Z".tp1s4 or of
penpecthre .., i:s In its last .deterministic. .
Mani' (though, on, h. c.;ur.!'not
b. a rigid !!!:t
crll1inist)
-belleved In .. tendencies
out with::an)rori";
n.4 -"Politics -.their':"'Qwn obJeciiVe
oC the
or p:u:ly.'" "I.n.:..Wi!i.'!P'.1918. his, bell.r in
'. coming socialist ..
diction".' .. ''t.
II scientific n
, Identlfled with the whole 'course'o{:!ttstOrlcalevolution;:who
, laws ::1t is' the busi;..... ' o{:the.: philosophel:; to;Pvestlgai.'and
I The concluding ";?.-'. ,
J ltjeUl!a, I),,. Sla.t ai, L,llIIu/HWf. p.Sli o(i
Crowe', lamoul memoraodum 011 Brlti.h foreign pollc,; '." Thi"ieneralcharlLCter
or EDiled'. '(oreip'polley.". hr' the' condltio.DI' o(her
geographies) .ltu.doD to (Bril.,1t .qllnlm"ftl"" '''i Orlplf. pj I'" W'Ir, Gooch
and Temperley, Ill. p, 391).. . :. . :.....:: " :"; .' .,"
fn/'rtI./i""lJ! C_,iH,,'i'If,No. 194. Jaaual'1 J924,P. 3.; :. ':. :.. ,:1-. . .
Mant, <;13!;'131, ,P/erSC. to ,.t ed, (En!:l. trs,nd., Everymm'. Libruy. p. 86J!
., W,r.b (2od Ruulan eel.). x. p. :'07. .
" lui. ull. p. '9".
66
Tlu Realis: Critiqlt' '
reveal. There can be no reality- outside the historical process.
.. To of histo, as. evolution .....JITitt!s
u g it.as necessary in aJIj!S_.2.l!..Its. ana
the.ret'.ore dcnytn[ h. It I Condemna_
tion ijf the past on ethical grounds bas no meaning' for in
word., u transfigures the.rCal 'Which'appears
un'ult to the ratlOnal
ll
. t... Whatwa;, is History cannot
be judge except y Istancal P t is significant tl\at
our historical judgment!; except tho!s relating,to a past which
we can ounelves atl the. resent alwa 8 a ear t6
5 rom e resu osition that 1 in B could not have tttrne
out otherwise t an t ey d. . t is recorded that Yeni:r.elos.
on ,reading in "sher'. Risto", 0/ Europ. that the Greek
invasion of Aaia Minor in 1919 was a mistake. smiled ironically
'and said: .. that does not succeed is a mis..
lake .... If Wat Tyler's rebellion had succeeded, wou e
an English national hero.' If, the American War of
ce had ended In disaster, the Foundin Fathers of the Umted
uld be rse recor e In .story ,5 a gang.ofturbulent
ulous (anat cs, No mg' 8UCCee lJ t e success.
"World history u. In the. amcus p rasew lch Hegel borrowed
from Schlller.." is the. world court ", The popular paraphrase
.. Might is Right" is misl.ading only if we attach too restricted
a.meaning to the word "Might". ljistory creales rights, and
ther.for. right. The doctrine of the survival of the fittest
ti0vss. that. was. in the fittest to survive.
..arx doc.s not seerp to have maintained that the victory of
the. roletarla.twas just in an other 'sense than that it was
nlstorlca y mevi a e. u C5 was a consistent, though per.
haps mQlscreet, lYrandstwhenhe basedtthe "right"' of the
.proletaria.t on, Ita " historical ,mission".i- )Utler believed in
Gfthe ,
, , TIt. Relativity 0/ ThouCItl
. -:'n : " ';' \: ' . :.' "
achievement .of moden:'
has reveal" not merel . the dete_ Intat a .
The International Crisis
thought iuelf. In the last fifty.yeara, mainly
not wholly to the influence of Marx, the principles of the his-
tcrlcal school have been applied to. the ana.lysis of thought i
and the foundations oC a new science have been laid,principally
by German thinken,' under the namear the U sociology of
knowledge n. The,reali.t has thus been enabled to demon-
strate that the intellectual theories t!'i!:i'.I. standard. of
jitQpianism,1 far .. .:.oL.absQlute and
J1-piorj piincipJe, are.-hi!tod.gUJy....condltlcned,.. h..
products ofdo:uws'tances and
for the furtherance DC interest!:
Bertrand are vm-ssldg
m
anmsc,hnt
almost alv)':, ;;nfOiiect. -a means .of clailDing -universal .legis
w
for our own references no as wefondl
Quod of those re "I This is
by far the, most formldab e attack which utopianism has to
{ace j for here the very Ioundatlcns or lts bellef are undermined
by the critique. ", ,
In a general way, the relativity of thought has long been'
recognised. A. early as the seventeenth century Bishop Burnet
expounded the relativist vie... as cogently, if not as pungently,
B5 Marx:
As to the late Civil War., 'tis pretty well known ...hat
no\ions of government went current in those -.'."When
monarchy was to be subverted we knew what was necessary
to justify the fact; and then, because it ...as convenient for
the' purpose, it was undoubtedly true in the nature of thing.
that, government had its original from the people, and the
prince was only their, !roStee. But afterWards, when
monarchy its place again .. another .. notion .. or
government came into ,;fashion. . Then government had its
entirely from God, and the prince ...as accountable
to"ilOne but Him ', And now,. upon .andther tum of
things, when people have a Uberty to speak out, 11 new set
of notions is advanced i,now passive; obedience is all a mis-
. take, and instead of being a ... duty to suffer cppression, 'tis
a.glorious act to resist -it: and instead oflcaving'iJ:1juriesto
be'redressed by God, we have a natural right to relieve
ourselves. S
1 t"iArUl(llIli_ S(leUly, 191,5-16, P.30,
' -,lhll11"t, Ell.", "/#1' G*tHm1lU,.1f.1, p. 10.
68
The Realist Critiq.u
In modern tlmes, the recognition of this phenomenon has
become fairly general. .. BeHer, and to speak fairly, honest
belief II rwrote Dicey of thedlvisions of bpinion ill the nineteenth
tenturyab!Jut grea.t extent the result not
oC argument, note"'en of 'direct 'self..interest, but of circum-
Circu,rIlstances are the creatoraof most men',
Il!!Uxfi&r;rO.wed down lhis somewhatv"!K.ue con..
declaring, t i.talrtho'ught w"coU-ditio,;;d by
.t:-Cbbomic .interestan/,ociif iiiittus of the thInker
lWaJ ,perhap! articular.. Marx, ';ho
Id!;riiedthecx1stcnct'qf" n atiul al
'1
'interests,underestimate
?l}latio aHsiiia,; ,the
!pf -liie m'illvldual. But the pecullar concentration which be
the to populari.dtand drive it
'heme, The relativity of thought to the interests circum-
!stmcc!I [If th..
I' .and understood wrote,'.'. . -
" Theprinciple,haBane:i<tie,me!y'l"ide field of application.
, It, has beeorne a commonplace to Bay thattheorie. do not
: .the . bu: an:
, Wnillfe precedes Imperlali.m.' ' )1lgntee!J\\.1.-G.en.t.Y!:Y.J.);ndand
, ".put into before it found a
: jU!!!!i<;.ai.iQ"..... ...pparent; ". iii: the, ,I)e.w
1 doctrine"; 1andutlic virtual.break..upoClaisIIJl-jairiz's.3
bodyco! -dOCffi"e, " .ha. followed, andnot,preceded, the
declipeofJau..,-{air. in the real.world ".' The theory of
II in,lL.singlccountry uprOlJlUlgatedin
in 19'4";a. manifestly a product of the failure.,of Soviet
i regimes toestabli;h them.elves in otherccuntrles,
;But the development of ab.tract theprr is often Influenced
by eventS which have no t!lsentia15,!?!,-:exion with it at aIi:---
In 'the story of political thought [write. a modern .aocial
thinker] events have-been 'no less' potent than arguments.
TheJailureandsucce5' DC thevictbd(;!and
defeats of countries identified with certain principles have
',repeatedly strength and resolution to the ad-
. herents or cppcnents of these principles as the case :might
..... Dieei:I;.,MJ 0/''';(1'; .
:.' J.A. Hobtc:ia,Fn, TIrHrAi ,,.tAr SHi./ 190," '.
f Haln:r,TAlGMiltA_/ tmul.), p. '.0400 I
4 M. Dobb,'R.JitU.l Eenf_1IIY ."J,.CtI}it.lilm, p. 188. ,.
69
Tiu Inl.m"Iional Crisis
. be in. all lands, . , Philosophv .. it .icistSon earth is the
" word "'of ... nbo Jls:.suffc
r

. from tggthache ,: ptry'!c a.nrJ an!. 0pc9
,.to the btl fessian:' of' near and' .tq.- jhe.
. se uct ons of. intellectual. u ron , ,.. '.1; ;J' .i' ,:.,:.::.
nse. .
of last 'centUrY :"leading" -
British: oC
Green, Bosarquet;'cMcTaggatf:- . -There:. .
after, .the Kalser's- teJegr:am to- .Kii:lgerand' naval'
programme spread Bt:itish ..
Hegel w.s a .less' good' had, been supposed,
and since 1914 no British philosoph';r,. cf reputehas ,:,entilr,ed'
to sail under the Free"
man 'put English histoi'y'on''' s9uhd 'l"eiltonicbasis, ivhil;'
even in France Fustel de Coulang.snadan uphill.:.iltruglflcW
defend the Latin ..
thirty yea.s, English historians; have' been' In
making the Teutonic origins. of' :3"iiiconspiC':"0us
possible _, : ,,'U :,' .' J I ' 1, .". t,.,
Nor .it only thinkers' who arc' subject
influences. 'Popular: :opiniori .is not lessIJjarltedly,;dofuirfoited
by them, The
established. ;still'
reinembered' Napoleon,. u:Vf.hen' Mil
Bertrand ; French Crdg's'and !lei-e.
, Croggies', but tliey'app';".ntlyabandoned
we conl=iuded 'riur tn"tintl rate. I I
have never heard"it I
:':'tlle gallant little:1 :of':I.90s"
into "'the Prusslan 'oftlie Eas.t: ;, 'nlhe-
.. .ii a that
Germans were. and"enbghte!,eo:i" .
ward
Ger;n,>ans.(wl!o. lur,,! o.ut
bIlltal aml narrow-mind!'I;.nd lhRt
The, ,of. i.n
in about same time, ..
I L. T. Hobhouse,.TA.. U"iJy tlj'WU/i"' CirJilup/itm. ed.:F..S. Ma.rrin (Jrd
pp. 177-
3
: : ..,..... . '.. ..,,' .' ..... .
I D\!rtn.nd RuueU. WAid WilY.P,N"t p. 158...
7
0
Tire RedlisICr.ili'lUl'-.
Vlith Russia,L.The vogue of Marxism in Great
iBntlllll, and..France, which began ona modest scale after the
'.SUcce&l;of.the .Boishevik revolution in R.ussia. rapidly gathered
particula.r1y:.;among intellectuals,.ater 1934, when
that Soviet. R"ssia was a potential military
ally.i.!'g!insr..G.ermany.: .It Is symptomatlc. that moat people,
will indignantly deny that. they .fomph,eir
.. this. way; Cor as. .l\.cto!, Iong ago .ebserved, ," Cew
more irritating ,than. those which expose. the
olideas:'.1 The.conuitioning of thought is necessarily
a subconscious
. ...
IS "bt';"ere!" ihe' circuin't'alice.' and
nteresuo t e t net': It'18 a so
. direeteHo:tIi.CulfilmentoC s"purpos..: 'Forthe'reklist
'aI'a,Witty no {per:
cGlllion oC dIScordant agJmted' fQr.!!
. particular and Cor thetIrn'OliOfn"it'"":O.' The purposeful
:.C!larllct.... 0: lias;been previous chapter ;
...... few. wIll auffi",:, to illustrate the Importance
afthis phenomenon in. international politics. ' 'ir ,.,...... ,
> i,'T4egrie;' d,,:'.ign,;d aD 'cnc'!'y Or potential enemy
are ,ope oC the conun0riest Corms,oC.purposeful thinkl!!g. To
depic:t one's' enemies- or one's. prospective victims as inferior
bOIngs,ln thesight of God 'has been-a familiar technique at
.llJIy.rate <\sys oC theQld .Testament. Racial theories,
anpent: .nd mol1em, belong to tlils 'cate .. 101' Ule IlIle of
,one eo Ie or e ass over ana or 15 ilway. ustJ ea6 a belief
:m Ie', mentllLana: moral.' n.mo.rlty o e-ruled. t
.. theorl../.exua!:llbponnalitl
Impiited to discredited race 0" group.: Sexual- depravity is
:imppted' by.th',.:,,:hite A to.the,negro,!' by the' white
..South. Mrican to the h.affir; by . the to the
' ..H.Ul<ju; .rid. by;' the. n,.zi GellIlan to' the Jew, ,The .most
:popul.r and most absurd oC the charg.s levelled ag.inst the
Bolsheviks in ,the -carly .days ot";the Russian r.evolution was
that .they .advocated scxufLl promiscuity. Atrocity stories,
" . , ! .1'" - " ;:. .
I ActoD, Hislni #f Frill/11m, p. 6, .
a. Carl Becker. YIII; R.vi,UI, 1."\vU, p. 461.
.71
.....
.....
TJu Iniernational Crisis
among which offence! of a. eexual character 'predominate, are
the familiar- product of war; On;he eve of their' invasion
or Abysllini", the Itillianl issued. anof?clal Green. 'Book. of
Abyssinian 'atnJC:ities. I, The Italian fir' as the
.af.Geneva ecrrectly cbaerved," U having
resolved to conquer' and' desu;oy Ethiopia, begins by' giving
Ethiopia a bed name."! . . .. ". ..' ..
-But thalphenomencn alsc appears in leas crade.Icrma wbich
ecmetlmes enable it to escape detection. .The poil!-t was' well.
made by Crowe in a Foreign Office minute of Marcb 1908: .
. .
The German (formerly Pru,sian) Government b";;'lway.
been most remarkable .for the pains it tak,e. to create a reeling
ofintense and holy hatred against a' toimtry with which it
contemp,lates the possibility o( war. It is undoubtedly In
thIs way that the franUc hatred of England as a monster .of
personified and. greed and. absolute vtant:of 'con-
science, 'which now'animates and
fed' .. .' .....
. "
The'diagl)osis is accurate, and penetrating. But it Is strange
that-so acute a mind al Crowe's.should.nct have perceived that
he wal at tlJis lime performing, for the limited audience
of atates,,:,en and official. ,to which.he had access, precisely,the
aame.cperatlcn ef-which he accusedthe German .Government j
{or a perusal 'of -hi. memoranda and minutes of the -perlod
reveals able, but transparent, attempt to It create. a (celin'g
of .and holy hatred If against his own country's future
enemy - a curious' instance of our promptness to detect the
conditioned or other people's thought,
"while assuming .that ,our .own is whollyobjective."
I The converse of thi.; ro a alion of theories d""iglled to
.scredit DO:an enemyis the propaga n of thea;,
moral credit on oneself and one's own policies. IS...
tile remark made to' him' by Watewald;'tl1e
. French _",..Ul 1., wu the liiiSmes!....of
a diplomat to cloak theinterclts of his couo c anguagc
OfUOTversal justice. 1\4orerecently, Mr. ChurchilL totO-the
cuee ,pC Commonsth.at II there must be a moral basis for
'.
J fA.,.., -I .. Ojfdlfll/#tIl'fttil, Nonmbu 1935;p, t;.fD.
0"'11"1" DI&Jlrtf,,.1I 1ft 1M On"';'" WM. ed, Govd, .nd Temper1!:J'
'ri. p. 131. .
! TIle Realisi CriiifUil
(British and foreign policy ",I It is rare, however
)for modem statesmen tv wIlr nir,"lTarikn"'c-:
I
- .... ,"..,....'.".''' ..>'. '.... ,.... ,.,.... '.:.... ,.... .... ..... '- 55 ,
and In British Dnd
.. ,been .. ,.utopian
1
8tatCl mcn wboare.....smcflrcl;y conVinted that eollev I d" "d
",""". . ' l'-. . IS couce
. pr;nc!pl=; "?tethical pril1dple3 The
Jre,,!!sps nevertheless obliged to uncover the hollowness of this
,,' U' .. Th 'h" 'd W d .
'I e flg,t,' ,sa, 00 row Wilson to the qnit.d
1917,,, U is more precious than peace." s.
tomes beforeatI, &aid J)riand ten years later to the
IL...... U As b' .. '
...;Ji.=-eo . J,'lll ana -. Bern ly,' peace comes even' before
Comideredras ethicu1principlei, both these con-
! and could muster. respect-
I -. Ne ,;e th<:<efore to believe th,at w,e are dealing
: !!!l!!,;", clash ofeth,.al standards,and that if Wnson'. and
it wu: becauie they deduced. them
prlliciples? No .erious student of will
! 'i!,IIilif1:iilii}lds beUef.,The most cursory p:aminaUon shews that
the polidcs
191Z. Wilson, had ihe po1rcy
i plJltcy
I, JlP'p'rop!late;JLarment of righteous-,!.'l!!!._ In ijilr"llrland
; fe,IU"f..,.1 of att,,!"'p!, .. in dl'tui'6
, a,peace [,,:vourablO'tQ'France j und l1e h.iln<;,'iiiOJi,
l...dll!ieulty than moral phra.eologywhich
I /iUilIbis policy. It 'WOuld 6e ""unt to dlu;;u,.. supposed
, df4:....nee of principles on ethlcal ground.. The prlnclples
I meldY reflected different national policies framed to meet
durerent condition
, The double' process of inoral,ll the of a
" potenUal enemy and morally own be
:" abundantly Dlustrated from the dillculSlonl of disarmament
: 'between them wars, The experien.ceorthe
.. 'Powers, whos. naval predomJnance ,had been threatened by
the lubmarine, provided ,an ample, opportunIty of denouncing
It Civilisation demands It,
WTotethc naval. adviser to the AmeticanDelegation at the
, ..
I. How. or COlNl;rll'lU.Muebl4t 193'8 t . R'I"', cob. 95-99. '
lirA, PIIJIH w....,/ ed, It. S. B.keJ,
I. p6. ' I
U"IfI# _I Ntfl;,,,".. NirtlA"""ml{r.
7J
i:
I
I

Ccnferenee, .. that :naval warfare be placed on a higher
plane" by the aboUtlon oC the submarine.' Unfortunately the
.submarfne was regarded u a convenient weapon by the weaker
French, .Italian. and Japaneae. and. this
demand. oC civiliaation could npt therefore be complied WIth.
A distinction of amore sweeping character waif established by
Lord Cecil a speech to the General Council oC the League
of Nations qnian in 1922:...... .'
The general peace of'. the worl<! will not be materially'
secured merely by naval disann"ament. 0 ".If all themarl..
time Powers were to dlssrm, 01" drastically limit their
mente I am not at all' sure that not increase .the
dinger. of war rather than ann,
is malnly defensive; the olfenslva must be to a extent
the miUtary weapon.
'
.. ' " ..., ".
The inspiration of regarding one's own, vital; armaments .as
defensive and beneficent and those. oC other naUons as offensive
and wicked, proved particularly CrultCul.: 'Exactly years
later commis.ions oC the Dlsarrnament spent
marry. weeks in- a vain endeavour to classify,. i.rrqaments as
If offensive H and II defensive ". Delegates.of all natiqns shewed;
extri'0rdinary ingenuity in devising lI11t!'mentJ" supposedly.
based on pure objective theory, to prove that jhe armamentJ
on which they chiefly relied were defenaive, while those oC
potential rival. were es.entially otTensive; Similar attitudes have
. d If .... n I the
been taken up regar to economic .arrnamenta ". n
latter part of _the nineteenth century -e-r..and in a lesser degree
down to 1931.- protective taritrs were commonly regarded in
Gte
at
Britain as imrnoral.> ACter '!i31 straight tarms regained
but barter not
, I it.-S. BAker, W"Jrlll1 Wil,,,, ."rl w",.lisfllll".;;'i; lU.r. aD
amusing ulneteentb'C:&Dtury parallel. .. Pri..leerb:sc", 'WTDle Quem 'Victoria at
lhe lime of the CoulereDCI of Puillu J856, 1111 klod ot PJfiqwblch d1.IJDUI
our chillsadoD t Ita aboUdoQ throulbout lhe wbole 'WPtJd. WG,uld. be & .lItep
1D &dvaDce" .W. ';e DOI-.UrprlHd to-read that It the wu thf.G, Uka tha.!
.ubmuiae I.b. tDadero dmu, lh, weave-aof the wake!' Danll'owu" (Sir
M.Jkln,1Iri,ull YIM' 11##'" #/fn'tnlfd;#".t !-dW, TiU:pp. 6. 30). :.... " 1
Publl,hed ... Le.p' aC N..tiol1ll Unioa Pamphlet No. 76, p, D. The Tery
WOld II mllhsrbm .. e:tlD'feJ' 10 moll Eugll&h readen Lb. JUDe c:DDDotadOD DC the
peeuUar witkednta. or._rm!el. It w IJt 10 1Ul Am.ripa hfat0ria,D. Dr. w: L.
!ADger, to coin Lbo c:ouiUuput f/ n..nJistll ". wblch b... WOD alplfi.ca.ntlr little.
scceplance. .
74'
I
I
I
The Realist Critique
agricultural) quotas, exchange controls and other weapon,
employed by Continental states .were still tainted -with immor..
ality, Down to 1930, successive revisions of the United State!
- ,tariff had almost invariably been upward; and American
economists. in other respects staunch 'upholders of Ja,ssI6-ja"'rt,
had a1most invariably treated tariffs as legitimate and laudable.
the pcsltlon of the United State. Croma debtor
to a creditor Powet, combined with the reversal of
economic pcllcy, altered the" plcture ] .ami" the reduction of
tariff barriers, has come to be cOll)rtlOnly Identified by american
spokesmen WIth the cause of lntematlonal morality.
,
.: iJnatlr, Un;",rsal Gooa
The reatlst should not, however, linger over the infliction
or these pin-pricks' through chinks in the utopian defences.
HI. task i. to bring down the whole cardboard structure cf
utopian lhoughi by 'expo.ing the ..s.,of the material
out oC bullt, weapon of the of
mu.t be used to dOllloli.li tlie uto ian concept of a fixed and
a So\I e s an ar b wh' I, . an iiCtIOJi'o"'i;i!ii::Jiii.Jiiiljed.
_. . flexion or racelce and prinelplea
oC polltlcal needs, this discovery will t e-CUi"r.nierilal
thconssliriiL prlDClple5 of creed; and not .Tea;t to
the doctrlnecf the harmony offntereats wlUCh-"ls' itS-essential
.p,o.tulate: - :'--:---' -"
. It will not be dIfficult to shew-that the utopian, when he
preaches the dcctrlne of the harmony of interests, is innocently
and maxim, and clothing
his own_interest in the guise' of a universal interest for the
purpose of imposing it on the rest of the world. U Men.come
easlly ,\0 believe that arrangement. agreeable to tliem.elve.
art: to .others ", as Dicey observed; I and tb lries of
the pubUc good, ,whicii tum out on inspection to be If.. elegant
dismisc for sotne particular intqest, arc as common 'n inter-
as in .naJiQualaffair:l.; .The utopian, however eager
he may be to establlsh an absolute standard, doe. not argue
that it,-is the duty of his country, in conConnity with that
standard, to put 'the interest oc. the -woeld at large before it!
own interest j. for.thatwouldQe contrary to his that
, Dleey, L4A1 {mJ Opi"i,,,iIlE,,/III,,rl (aDd td.). pp. '4'15. .-
15
The,International Crisis.
interest of coincid.es.. with' the- Interest of each. He..' .
that what is'''best_for_ his-country', -and
then reVerses. the ,!hat:js.. for his
country is beetfer the 'Yfo.rld;",the
the utopian
ism of the fa.t"' more;enective:.. .
dIpjomatic ':' .. ...
Wa ewski or " .
past halC.. .. .
of the theorY thatthe malntenance IS the'
performance or a 'duty' to' mankind.' If Grea! .]3ri,t,,:!n':haa
turned itself into ...
TIll Tim,s ingenuously in".-188S,11 it 'is rnan-
kind' as wellue its own." I.-The following .typiCal
or a dozen which might be culled'from memoirs of public men'
of the perlod r - ..... - ,. .
I have but onegreat:objet:t. in'-'tlli.s and" tlia:t'is:tii .
maintain theg;eatness from'
John Bull sentlment.upon.jhe ppmt, I firmly-believe-that-in
doing'lo I 'Work: in .the" 'Christianity,:-or .peace, ,0(-.
civilisation, and the' the human race
'. ,-' -' ..
, ."
H I contend that we arc the -first' race in, the world," ',JVro,te.
Cecil Rhodes, "and that the more of' the world 'we inhabit
the better itis for.. In 1891, the. most
popular. and brilliant journa!jst :,Stead,
founded the'Rev;ew v!,Rev;elIJr.,." WI',
England and 'In, Humanity '" ran the,editoria\. manifesto::In
it, opening number.. race' ,is, -one' Qf
the chief of'God's chosen agents,Cor executing iinprove-
ments in the lot of mankind.". An' Oxford' professor was
'. con\.inced in 1\112' that. the secretor Britain's histoV was that
"in fightlng,for.her own independence ebeb.. been, fighting
for the freedom or Europe, and that the service thua-rendered
to Europe' and. to mankind" has 'carried with it the-posslblllty
of that to givi ':
TA, Ti";." Augult 27, .88s.
and. Arthur,TA, ..31"', .
W. T. LtUl,lI'ift em' ')"'1(."'''''.6/ C,cif/. XII"',i.
.. Rn;,., tilRtt1U:ufl,]lJJuarrI5, 18gl::" .
Sptllct'f WUk1nJvn, Ct1Vtt'1f",n" tA, Wf11",p. ItG.
76
The Realht Critique
The first world war carried thlz conviction to a pitch of
emotionaIfrcnzy..'A"hare' catalogue, culled Irorn the speeches
of British statesmen, of the services which Brltieh' belligerency
was rendering-to humanity would fill -many pages. In 19171
Ba.lIour told the New:York Cbamber or Commerce that" since
August, '1914; th""f1ghtlias <been ror, the, highest spiritual
advimtages ofmankind,wlthout'a,Pe(ty: thought or ambition
The Peace-Conference-and its-sequel-temporarlly.disctedited",
these professions and threw'solne passing doubt on the belief
in Britlsh-supremaey... as one . qf .oCmankirid.
But theptriodordi;i!iusionmcnt and modest)' w;is short,
Momentsofintermitiooal 'tension, .andrspcdaJIy moments
when thepossibilit;yoCwar appearn on the hgrizon. alwaY!'
interest with morality.
fl.! Abyssinian cdsis, the Archbi.shop
, CanlUbllo.'J,Q.monished..the..Frtru:h_pllblic through ap inter-
view in: aParis.newsp"!.l!er.:: '--
'. -..,.,. .... :..... . ..". . .. '
We are anlmated-bymcral and spiritualconsideration!l.
I do not thinkL..mdep....ting from.my role by contributing
towards the dearing up of this misunderstanding '
It is isdrivingu! forward,
an? no conslderatlcn cf interest should keep you behlnd.w
In thefollowlng year, ProressorToynbeeWasonce more' able
to dlscoverthatthe security of .the BrltlshEmplre II was also
the. terest. of: the :whole.r. world In 1937, Lord
Cecil spoke' to' the. General Council or the League or Nations
Union of "our duty' to our country, to our Empire and to
humanlty at . .
. '. -- .
'Not()nec nor mlceinour rotighi!landltory
The p..thof dutyIs thc'wayto glolJ.' '
An. "El1g1ishfuan'B!' Mr. Bernar?Shaw remarks inTlt4 Man.
of Derlin)', " never forgeIsthat the nation which lets Its duty
get on to the opposite aldetc Itsi.iJtere5tislost ", Xt Is not
,urprlsing.,fl.1at" critic recently have de-
scribed .the British ai "Jesuits lost to the theological but
BeatU,t'A, JUs;.,! A""milm.:Civilufl,i"!, II. p. 646.
: QuotedIDNetldu/". GlI'mi"",Oeto},er ,S, 1935
.. Toynbel!; Sflrrf'f I"c,",Uf/j,,,.1 AI';,." r9:T$, II. p. ,,6.
.. n,rtJW(f)', Nonmber J937.
77
., .
I
I
I
i
j
.j-
I
.....
00
o
Th41n{4maJional Crisis
gained for the political realm ",lor that a former. Italian
for Foreign Mairs should have commented, long
.before. these recent manUestations, on "that "precious . gift
bestowed-upon .th.e.Brir'lSh people - the possession .of :writers
and clergymen able in perfect good faith to advance the highest
moral reasons. for the most concrete diplomatic action, -with
inevitable mort1 profit to. England :, ',,' '. , .
In recent the lIamo phenomenon h,as become endemic
in the United' States.. The story how McKinley praycd for
divine guidance and decided to annex the Philippines is a
classic of modern American history i. and thill, was
the oceaslen of a pop....la.r.outburlit of moral self-appr.oval
hitherto' more. familiar in the forelgn policy or Great. Britain
thanof the United :,Theodore
more firmly than the
doctrine L'/fal, a step further.
The following curious .dialogue occurred in his crcss-examlna-
tion"during a libel action brought against 'him in i91S by 11
leader ,"
QUI"," How did you, know that substantial jus*a was
done?' I.' , , ; ,
ROOSEVELT: Because, I did it, because I WU doing
my best.
-, Query: You mean to say that, when you do a thing:'"
thereby substantial justice is done.
; ROOSEVELT: I do. When I 00 II thing, I do it 50 as to
de) substantial justice. -I mean just that.
J
",
WoodroW: Wilson was less nalvel ,.
OUn c cnt 0 t e' idcnti ..of American 'oli . an'd
untenal justice. ,After .. the. bombardment of Vaa CruJ in
194. he assured the world that "the. United State. had gone
.... '.'down' to Mexico, to. se e mankind ",. During the first world
war, he advised 'Amerlcan' naval ca' ' . a wa , to'
-think first or AIDcd,a: a s' also..to think . ucn;,-;iJ
ltV" - a .feat slightly less difficult'by
. een "founded: for the benefit Of
I Carl Decker, Y"I, .KllIi"." ;o;ril. p. 452: '.
, COllDt Fg,.,'p A.lr>irl,'Odobcr 1927. p.
, Quoud In H. F. Pringle. T.A,,,",,,., .R,gll.,./J. p. 318...
, /'''IITI "IW",rlr_ Wilu.... 1''', N..., IJs",,,u'''O', ed, R: S. Baku,
I. p. 14-
The R,a!ist Critiqru .
".1 Shortly before the entry of the United States'
. an address to the SenJlte on wy.r whis, he
stated. the still more 'categorically: .. These ate.
Cl lell. American olldes.. _ . The .'
r ea 0 1tl an must preval. a ,
. JflU.;. t at utterances 0 this character proceed
{rom Anglo.Sa?t0n statesmen and .:writers.
.It . . when a' prominent:
that: - h that
...... ",J
.e of nauonal interest with
",.<>_ . . . {o!.l!neh:
. by Lord,
i!on When the claim 11 translated into a
I .-{oJ:e." the note and 'the identification
I. to. the people;' concerned, Two exp1ana-
L of thIS: curious discrepancy.: The
.1 which IS popular in Englllh-speaJdng countrTei;"
! in-met
I and dllJntereated.than those of Contlnentaf'iatiiteli-
8.0 WIlBon and Professor Toytibee ana-LorC:Tt;iclr-liri:
; . .' _ they identity the
J .. die mterCllt or manJtln.q.'" The
'I... explanauon, WIi1cli III Continental countries
I!.,tJiat!-he .s,rc" put' muters in the
1 ..art.of concealing their.selfish int!=-l"CStll in the guise of
and that t.h!s lUnd of hyeDci'isy is a special
Df :
'. ItseemsulUl.ecessary to accept elther of these heroic attemptB
to the )mot-The solution II:a simple one. Theorles of
Bodali'm?rality arc. the product of .' u
.!$jgh,I..en es !mmunitt as L whole, awl
WWd1 pqn'eJSl$ flIctnms acme!! to' subordlnate (!foups DC
for':impoaTng its view urute Onthe community.
of international moraU 'are fordie same reason and
I" .'-0 0 p, ,,",C proce-lII, the product of dominant nations
of natiollJ; For the past hundrcd ycw, anrLmm:t.
since "IgJ8. the English-speaking peopleS have formed
,t . '." "';"', I --
I P,;JliJ: PD!lrl 01W"tir,1lI Will"".. T/u N,,,, D,,,,,,","y, ed. R. S. Balce.,
I. Pp. iI8.J9- :"? . ,: . I II. P' 4104.
I Quoted10. T,)J11bee. SUMI'Y p/ 1"(tnl"Jio,,,,1Aff"irs .r936, P' 319.
79
Tile Realist Critique
-that 'moraliry is Ute product of power. A few examples will
make this analysis .of the doctrine of ahe harmony of interests
clear, " ,: '
In the. nineteenth century. the British -manufacturer or
rnerchant.: having,discevtred:tbat laisJt:JI...taire promoted his
own prosperity"wu.sin.cerelr..::onvil1ced that it also promoted
as a whole: . !'l.:0r wa. this aU.ged harmony
._, ,or-..litter.. himself. _and.... entirely
themanuacturer" arleC'the
merehant was so overwhelming .that there WQ a sense in whlch
an Identity between prosperity and British prosperity as
a a.
short step to .argue that a worker on strike, in damaging the
prosperity or the "Brltlsh manufacturer, was damaging Brltisb
prcaperity as liL whole,llU.1d.thereby damaging'his' own, 'sothat
he could be plau.ibly denounced by the predecessorsor Professor
'immoral and by t1lepredecessorl of Professor
-Moreover, there wlils_a,.sens.e.,,in...
whlchtbls argument Was perfectly correct. . Neverthele, the
doctrine of the.'hannony or Interes1s and of .0lidaritY between
the c1....cs.'must haveseemed a' bitter mockery to the under-
prlvlleged 'Worker, whose and in.ignificant stake
in If Brltlsh prosperity, "<were consecrated by it; and presently
he was strong- enough to force the abandonment or laissel'1aire
and the substitutlon fer It of the "social service atate", which
Implicitly,,-dpni,.es,the,natural,harmo,I:IY..o( interests, and ts out
to .
Thc"amc'amiiysismay be applied in Internatlonal relatlora,
British nineteenth-century statesme:n,havlng discovered that
free trade.promoted Brltish prosperity, were sincerely convinced
that, in ,doing of the world
a. a whoI.", Britishpredominance in world trade was at that
that there' 'Wa5<8.certainundeniable
aarmuny between British interests .and the interest. or the
world.. ,British prosperity flowed over into other countries, and
.. British eeoncmlc collapse would have meant world..wide ruin.
British'free"lJ:aders"could.and. did .;argue that prctecricnlst
netonly egotistJcall:r. damaging the prosperity
cf-the-wceld.. a.s.awhole, but were "stupidly damaging thrir
own, so' that their' behaviour was both immoral and muddle ', -
headed. In British 'eyes, it was Irrefutably proved that inter-
81
coUapscofthccommumty.-as:,a?ll o.c. n'80 ar,<therefore,
as the illJeg-ed naturaI.JiarmoI,lY,-:,li
i. created by the overwhelming power or the privileged group,
and is an excellent illustration of, the Machiavelllan maxlm
30
Th. RiaUit Cr"i.:vue o/tkt InttrJsts"
.. . . . ";' .': .
The doctrine or the hannony. or. interests yield. readily to
analysi, In terms or.thill'principle: It is
of a prosperous .and privileged members have a
dominant voice in the 'are.:thereore .naturally,.
prone to' identiCYltsinterut .wlth t,hcirown;!. -Invlrtue' 0. this
identification; any-. inta:csts of-the
group i. made t".incur'.the. odium of'as.ailing>the"alleged ,-
common interest or. the" "'!tOIe coininuitit)';'and"i.,tOldithaUn
makipg thi, aault .. high"".intcrests...
The .dectrlne ,of. the. harmony of'-intrrl':!lt3 'fbi" -eMf'" as 'sU_
, oral 'device. iitvpked,';,in'pe.rf'ecto:.incerl. :. rlvl ...
Tlw'1t)temational Crisis
the dominant -"{h'e of.
jvlcro.tiDiliI iiia.talilLhm:.b_,:-en lfieir
5upremacta"nd _ riUlce,
retaining -somethlng, ::.:h.Cr and
restored to. a . position. or.:"domiflance' 'perlod.
ig18, bu. played.' II. ".minor. lnter-
role. '. ..
of law in- thb 'mor;-. order. Gennany,'neveI" ,a.'do,rmnant ..
and to i91S;' .
reasons outside' t' U: churned' circle: of creatora:p,.international .
morality. Jloth the, viewfuat!' .
. are mgDQpQlistsoLintemational ,morality,,;,and,jIlcc'view: tliit .
they are CoO!mwmatC'jntemational hypotrhesrnar be reduced -
to in' at.t"lhat the' current: canon, of international virtue
bY'a "natural and inevitable 'procc:s,;' been' mainly'creatc
1'1 them. . ..... ' , ..
11; rou in or cr-to JUIU yean mamtam;their"dominant
poiltion.' -But a Iu eJ;', notice':;;:;-.The'supremacy,..
" i within tbt:- community'of be,' and,
often is,' eo overwhelming; that in fact, a sense in' which
_ it'-. are those ofthe.: well-beine
. leswlth it 50memeasureorweU..beln for oth r
the community" an .ltS.CO apscwou 'entail:; "'e
TII4 Reali.t Critiqu
!foundation in Cact as the statement that the prosperity of
lBritish manufacturers-in the nineteenth-century was Inseparably
iintCny9ven with British prosperity as: a Moreover, the
[ 'of the statements was prec.isely the same" namely to
1,es the prlnclple-that the defence of the British Empire,
lor the prospcr1t)tof the British manufacturer, was a matter of
i to- the whole commqnity, and that anyone
Iwho .ttacked, it was therefore either immoral or muddle-headed,
I
i t is ri' tactic otthe to throw moral discredit
on the un vile ed y e leUn" e 15- ur en 0 rt
I . Cl and this tactic is as rea 1 'app ie In erneno
i "it-hin tite iiatlonar--turnmun!tf" If Interna law and
: order '\ 'WtitEs Professor 'loyn ee 0 . a recent crisis, II were in
i the true. Interests or the' whole of mankind' . whereas the
1desire to perpetuate the in international
j 'affairs Was an anti-social desire which was not even in' the
t ultimate .Interests of the citizens of the handful oC stateS;'that
officially profesaed thts benighted and I
Thle i. precleely the argument, compouniled oC platitude sand
falsehood in about equal parts, which did duty in every strike
I in the early d.ys of the Brltieh and: Americ.n Labour move-
: menta. It was common form Cor employers, supported by. the
I' whole capitalist press, to denounce the II anti..social" attitude
( "or trade 'union leaders, 'to accuse .. them of-attacking.Jawsand
order and of introducing fI the reign of violence ", and to
declare that fI true " .and II ultlmate" interests of the workers
l.y in' peaceful co-operatlcn with the employere.v In the-field
of. social relations, the disingenuous character of this argument
has long been recognised, But just' as the threat oC class-war
by the proletarian is .' a natural cynical reaction to the senti...
mental and dishonest of tho privileged d ..... to obscure
the conflict of interest between classes by a constant emphasis
on the minimum interests which they have, in common ",J so
the war..mongering ot the dissatisfied: 'Powers the-" 'natural,
cynical reaction" to the sentimental and dishonest platitudinls-
, 'Ieynbee, "lln/mustinull J'lj{4;"1, z9J5. U.P... 6-
''':'' I U Pray eArtleltlr that right may triumph '\ laid the reprecentative. of the
Philadelphia coaluwnan in au early .trike orawled br tile United Mine Worker."
"nmemberlng lhal Ihe Lord God OmnJpotllQt uill reign., and that Hi. reign b
QDI Q( Ja." a.nd order, and nol of violence and crlnul" (H. F. Pringlt, TJupJ_
r , RUlli/Ill, p, 1:67).
J R. Niebuhr, Af",,1 /lIM lind Irfll/Htrtl/ SlIti,,)', p. 151,
BJ
Tit. Int.,."ational Crisis
trade was a single whcle, and or slumped
tog.ther. Neverthel..... this alleged international harmony of
interests seemed a mockery to those under-privilege4 nations
whose- inferior status and,.insignificant stake in international
trade were consecrated by It, ' The revolt against it destrcyed
that 'overwhelming Britlsh.prepcnderanee which had provided
a plausible basis ' Cor the theory. Economic.lly, Gre.t Britain
in the nlneteenth century, 'was dominant enough to make a
bold; bid to Impose on the world her own conception oC inter-
naudnal economic morality. When competition oC all against
.11 replaced ,the domination of the world market by a single
Power, conceptions of international economic morality neces..
sarily became chaotic... . .'
Politically, the alleged community oC Interest-In"the main-
tenance oC peace,whose '.mbiguou. character. has :already 'been
discussed, is' eapltallsed inthe same' way ,by Ii domlnant natlon
or group of nations. ]us(aa the ruling chts5 in a community
, prays: for domestic peace, 'which guarantees its ?wn security
and ;.:predominance, and denounces class-war, which might
threaten them, so.Internatlonal peace becomes a special vested
interest of predominant Powers, In the past, Roman and
British imperialism 'were commended to the world in the guise
of:the:'pa$- I!ri1o'!,,;&or. _!!J..day. !,hen
sing"le Power is stron enough .to' dominate the and-
8uEcmacy IS vee In a group 0 na ,ogan, like It col-
. Ieciive securn:yn:.and" resistancc"ltr 199Teiiron h s,erve the
proe-purpose of roclaimin an identity of intercst betwecn
. t e ominant grou and e w a .
co
N
.. "'"',
.....
ex>
(.0)
The International Crisis
ing of the satisfied Powers. on. the common interest in peace.
When" Hitler refused to believe II tha.t.,"Go# has permitted some
nations .ftrst to- acqulre.a-world... by.. fo-rce and. then .to defend
this robbery with moralising tbecrles",. .he-was merely echo-
Ing in' another context .the Marxist 0('3" community of
interest between ',' haves "and_'..', Ift', Macdsf ex-.
p05ure the... :.'. " ",
and the 'IyIarxi.t .demand for, the .
prlatcrs, I . .' ," '.. '
Thecri.i. of September in a .triking
way, the 'polltlcal implications of' tbe . _of-.3," common
interest :in peace. WbenDriand proclaimed ,that- "<peace. comes
before all n; or Mr;Ederi there is' .no- dispute which cannot.
be .by' 'peaceful-means '\':'; :
these' platitudes was so -long as 'peace :'W'as maintaincd,:no
changes 'oistasteful tc .Francc- could: be' made
in the": siaiur-VUf1. '., Biitain .were
trapped' by the .iogan.whiclitl!eY
past to:' GennallY' had.
b.comesuffici.ntly dominant (u.)!rance' and' Great Britain
had, hitherto. be.n).to tum the. d<;sire for:peac. to.iher own
advantage, 'About"this time;' 'occurretl;-,in
the attitude of the German and"ItaJiandic,tators. 'Hitler eagerly
depicted Germany a' ,a bulw.arkor peace";".naced 'by::war.
mongering .democracies.. 'Ihe::Leaguc: ,of' Nations; he-declared
in his Reichstagspee.ch o.f Aprll'28':'939, ji'a:""stirrer,up... of
trouble If, . and collective
of war-", . Muolini borrcwed.th,e,BrIti.h formula about the
...ll 'di.put
means, and-declared that/'e present
problems so big, and',so'actlv.::.toju.tify,,w....,which .from
aEuropean conflict univttSaV'.J Such
utt.rance. were symptomsthat Gerin.ally'imd'ltalfwere already
looking forward to they
would acquire the vested . recently .enjoyed by
Great' Britain .and France, .and....be .able to',g,i:1'.theirway by
pillorying the democratic, _of peace. "These"""
may ha.ve made it, easier to appreciate Halevy'!
.' in j 1939. '. ,o, .:. w.. .
Lllfl"U,1 N./inu': }f.irAttm'"tAArm,.IJ!y, p.6J.
t TIJ, Ti".ur, Mar 15, 1939..' .
S.
The Realist Critique
observation that II propaganda against war is itself a
Iorm of war prcpaganda";'
. '. ".'": T.he Realist Critique 0/ internationalism
. The is aspe'cial .fQrm of
doctrine' of theha.rmony of interests. It yields to the aame
and there are the tytme difficulties about regarding
it ab."!ut.'standjU"d ind.peo?ent-of... :.e. inttrests.;.aq,d...
those who promulgate jt.. .'!.,CusmopoUtailism
1o
"
wrote is thin as China.'s of
_,!:or emplre . a Qusan Yean ..? _ : once-wanted
everyether
80-she. .'1ii .tne Egypt of
the Eighteenth. ,Dynasty. -accorarrig:' Imperiallsm
Was reflected In: reUgion .as. universality and 'mnnotheism ".'
?ocb'ineoC the
ille ,c:a!lii>!.IcCli'un;1i, !1l!ymbOrof
R. clum to unlveraal dcmlnlon. M-tJdem'intemathmalism lias
iiS 'gen"ls"fri' -,.venteenth:-and" France,
French hegemony in E;urope was' at it. height.
Thi. WaS th.peripd which produced Sully'. Grana' Dessin
!ond the J?aiT,PJ'ffiTuiIle tooth
p"
1
.i!J1-,.to .i,l!tert?:'tio!'a!.. to
_the.French iIle the humanitarian
" w'iTcn
:estahU.lied:F.rench,as,the uni:v.er.allangtiag. of educateit people.'
Ul. next century, the lead.rshlp pasied.'io-::GreaLBru.:ro',
which became the .hom. of Internationalism. On the eve of
the lireat ]i:xhibition of I8SI which, more than any other .ingle
,rvent, established Great ..Britain'. title to. world supremacy,
tbe ;J,'rina: Co,?ort spoke movinglyof .. that end to which
' all history pclnts - the.reallsatlcn of the unity of mart-
kind ",4 and Tennyson hymned ,ff the parliament of man, the
federation-of the world u.: France chose the moment.cf-her
grf!atcst supremacy in the ni,neteen-twenties to la.unch a plan or
Eur.opean.tU i: and Japanshortly aftenvards developed an
... . .1 Hli1b1, A /liri#f')' 1M Enr1iJA ,it r89J-Z9Q5 (Ene1. tn:nd.), L
,>Iauoductiou,rp.xi.,... ..' .. .. ... .. ; ..
Suo Yat-JeD, StI1f Nu. CA. .. f (Eogl.tmul.), pp. 68-9
Sigmund rnud,N#runJ N#1f#IAtirm, p. 36.
.. T Mutiu, 61''',Print. 'Cmrffl, iii. p. '47-
as
, ....."*
.....
ex>
.j:>
The Intemotiona: Crisis
ambition to proclaim herself theleader of a united Asi.. It waa
symptomatic of the growing international predominance of the
United States when widcapread popularity was .enjoyed In-the
late 'nlneteen-thlrtle. by tbe book oC 'f' American journali.t
advocating a world union of democracic!I,in which United .
States would play the predominant 'rolc.
1
Just a, pleas. for ff national solidarity If in domestic polldcs
alway, . Come from a B!0upwliIal CiiiUie this
.....aQliiJ!Lrib' to egtben hs. oWn control over. the.nation ii"a
.....h6le-.-sel'l. ..!or..iIltum.!i.9.n!!
those nations ..!!1a'.Y hope to
over a' unllied world; Countries wblch are .truggling
to Torc'F'llleiflWay IOta the dominant group .naturaIly tend to
rlationalism ,the:.. 'oltha co'iil
trolbng Powen. In .lXteenth century, England.opposea
fier nascent nationalism to the"internationaUsmof.the: Fop.acy
and the Empire. In' the past 'and a half' Germany
opposed her nascent nationalism to the internationalism first
of France. then of Great Britain, This circumstance made her .
impervious to those universalist and humanitarian doctrines
which were popular in eighteenth-century and nine-
teenth-century Britain; and her hostility' to Internetlcnallsm
was further aggravated after 1919. when 'Britain and
France.endeavoured- to -create a ne;w Intematicnal.crder ' as
a bulwark, of their own predominance. II By
wrote a German correspondent in Thr Times, II we have come
to understand a conception that places other" at an
.advantage over our own,"> Nevertheless, there was little doubt
that Germany, if she became supreme in Europe, would adopt
international .logans and establish some kind of international
to' bolster up her pOwer'.'" A. British 'Labour
eX1Minister at one moment advocatdd the 'suppression of,
Articl6 of the Covenant of theLeague oc. Natlonson tho
unexpected ground that the totalitarian states 'mightsome day
capture the League and Invoke that article to justify the use
of Core. by themselv.' It seemed more likely that they would
seck to develop the Anti..Cominiern Pact into some form of
I ClarenCli Shelt, l/";#If Nnu.
I TIll Timll. $.1\1')8.
, Lord M.. in the HOUle of Lordi. Novembe.r 3D, 19)8 t OjJi&i41
tOI. 258,
86
T[le Realist tritique
international organisation II The Anti..Comintern Pact If said
in the R.ichst.g on January ,30. 1939. "will pe;hap.
cneday :he, crystallisation point of a group of Powers
ultimate, IS. ncne other than to eliminate the menace
-to...the-peace. and .culture of the world instigated by 11 satanic
apparition," ': must achieve solidarity," re..
an Italian Journal about the.same time, It or the : axis'
'11' 't"l liE .. b
'WI _ Impose I urope In ."ts entirety If said GOI!: bels
H adopting a ordes and II new under th;1
leadership oC National Scclallsr G.rin.ny and
Italy.It:l These were not of II. change of heart,
of that G.rmany and Italy Ielt th.ms.l" to be
.pproadung the time when they mill'ht become .trong enough to
.espouse Internetlcnallsm, It International order n and II inter..
national solidarity .. will alway. blogan. of those who feel
strong enough to impose them on others. . .'
. Thxpo.ur. of the real basi. oC the .P.rof....dl.lL.b.tr.ct
. inyoked ,In.
most amnmg and most convmclOlf part of the realist indict..
ment of utoplaUlsm. 1'h. nature of the Charge i. -frequently
liilsunderstood bY those who sk to refute it. The-charge is
not that human beings fall to live up to their principles. It
.. -matters littlethat Wilson. who -thought that the right was more
precious than peace, and Briand, who thought that peace came
even before justice, and Mr. Eden, who believed in: collective
security, failed themselves,or toinduce their countrymen,
to apply -these principles consistently. What matters is that
these supposedly absolu i were no
rmci es at a but io s of -natio
.....
00
01
. 1"(.en.ier,nationarCrisis ,
transparent
...ropter of in ,LV ibr
I1rindl1les butin
JtI1e
""posureoUts inability to pr;mdeal)y
;lbsQhtlc :nd" disintcrestCdy.gtandard.tor..t1.le oiInter-
.natignal affairn. "!The 1?r Uj.e. .. .sEan4atch
. whose Interested character:
refuge in -copdemnatioo)of. a _ccnfcrm
to these passage pennedby 'historian
Meinecke after thefirstf!wo:rld:,yrar' is _-the ',.b:cst; judgment by
anticipation
ofthe period: '"'! . .. ... .., .
The. profound defect of \he Western.. type of
. thought was that; whenepplled to.,lhe. the state,
it. remained' :(deadlthtr;' did the consclousness
of state
interest, and. 'so' either "and doc..
trlnalre suppositions or .elee to. a,"? cant.
1
.
. .- II '.' H', fir
'off' als Dod': .. osc
.,whohave studied.'what..v,.;;s. politia
in EngHsb:spcaking countrie,:bctweclf
. - "-. - .
:.t . 533:,'
CHAPTER 6
THE,LIMITATIONS OF REALISM
rUE expcsure.iby realist the hollowness of the
utopian-edifice is task. of,th: ..!.tl!l
ani .;1 has been' demolished "that there:'cahb
CoRny opeo-ralstn7 ._'''' .. ,,' Ji.!!.twe
cannotultimately..find a.restingplace m pure realism; fur
thollgh logically doe.n;;!-p.;,vide us
..:"itch the Sui b,p 0 1 actin
n
Which;":, eccsSla to the"
pursuit of thgught,. Indeed, realism it,elf, Ifwe attack it w't1\
it! own weapons, often turn!! (Jut in practice lobe just ItS much
conditioned:Cl5anyoth'e!l" mode of.<thought. ' .. In politic" the
beJOieflhat certain facts are unalterable orcertaln trends irresist..
'. 1 e'c6lfuitonl -reflee 'a ItC ':0 ,.,: essre.or ac 0 mterest . 0
cbpngeflcr-sist theIQ ." Tbe being a. consistent
and thorough-going reolist ,is one of the mostcertain and most
cyrious lessonllof Consistent realism excludes
four:thing!Swljieh apPCilrtobe elJscntiiI ingredIents of all
effective political tbirtkio; 11 finite-&oal,. an.emotional";ppeal'
a ri ht of morol'ud ment and a wouna Tor action, .' I
The conception of politics. as an m nate process seems in
.. to the human
thinker who' wishes to make an appeal
to hlscontell1pOi"aries isconsdously oruncon!lciously,::.led to.
posit a finite goal. Treltsehke declared that the "terrible
thing" about teaching WI15 U not the
!!!J!!e methods he reconunends, but the lack of COOle!1t
.tate, w.bi_<;!u:xitta.prilx.iJLorder to ""i.t ",lIn fact, Machiavelli
is not so consistent..l-lis realism breaks down in the last chapter
of Tne Frin, which is entitled" An Exhortation to free Italy
frC?mthcBarbarians u_a goal whose necessity could be
deduced from .. no .premise," Marx, having dlssolved
human thought:-::and..action Into the relativism or the dialectic,
postulates. the of classless society where the"
dialectic-..no-longer. opcrates..-that one far-off event towards
which, In true Victorian faahlcn, he believed the whole
TrtJuchke. 1'111/141.', 1.,. p.428
80
00
C1>
, '
Tlu J"t.rnatioflal Crisis
to be moving, The realist thus ends by negating 'hi. own
postulate and auuming an ;ultimate reality outside the historical
process, Engels waa one oC thefiratto level this .charge.:.against
Hegel. ff The whole .dogmatic content of the HegeUan system
Is.declared to be absolute truth in contradiction to his dialectical
. method, which dlssolyes. all dogmatism.It. But Marx lays
open to precisely the lame criticism when he brings the
process oC diO\lectical to an en9 with the. victory
oCthe Thu. utopianism penetret.. the citadel,lI!
realism i and to envisagc'-a-contfn1iiltk;1nIt not Infimte:"Pi-ocess
finite goal i. shewrr'to"be 'i'conilitlo!!. Ji!..iioliffcal
thoughi;:- The greetee the emetional str..., the nearer and more
concrete i. the goal. The first world war was rendered tolerable
by:tliC'Deli.r that ,it-was the, last of war.. Woodrow WiI.on'.
moral authority was .. bullt.iup on". the convlctlcn, .shared .by
that he-po......d the k.y to a
and, final ttlement of the political ill. of mankind. It I.
noteworthy that almost all religions agree in postulating an
-; state of complete .bleseedness, .
The finite, goal, a.suming the character 'of an apocalyptic
vision, thereby acquires an emctional, irrational appeal which
realism' itself canner justify or explain. Everyono knOWI
Maa's famous prediction DC the future classless paradise: .
pWhen be merely a .meane DC life and
becomes the fir.t living need ; when, with the all-round
development of the individual, productive forces also develop,
and all the sources oi collective wealth flow in free abundance
- ,th,.n only will it be poIble to transcend completely the
narrow horizon DC 6ourglois right, and society can inscribe
on its banner: From each according to his capacities. to
according to his needs.I -.
Sorel proclaimed the nee ity of a "myth" to makerevolu-
effective: .and Soviet Ruia has eXploit.d,for'
this" purpose the myth, first DC world revolution. and more:
recently of the " soclallst fatherland!'. There i. much to b.
said [or l3:nCt'ssgr l'pskj's yie'Lthat 'has ma]c
l
TIs wa.y by its iceaJism. and noLby by its spiritual
promise, not by its prospects".J ". A modern theo-
.. EDcelt. LvtlwiTF.Il"'A (EDgt. tranal;'. p. 23.
a Man: and EDgela, Ww", (Ruul&D ed.), xv. p. :175.
J La.J,d. C'tIJ","tI(sm. p. 'So. -
TA. Limitations of Realism
logian bas analysed the situation with almost cynical dear..
.Ightedn... :
Without the ultraratlonal hop of rellglon,
no will have the courage to conquer despair and
attempt" the impcssible ; for the vision of a just society is
l!9 one, which can be approximated only by those
not regard. it as Impossible, The truest of
arc illusions, which miJ.Y be partly realised by Being
reeolutely belleved.! .
';' ..- .
this again closely echoes } in M.in Kampf in
Hitler contrasts the maker" with the
oilUclan t'" ' .
p ['I h k "] "fi I' I
r e. t programmc"n:sl C( S cance lea a most
;w.!ibljy In the future, and he IS often, what on. means by the
oo 'ford' welt/rem'" [unpractical, utopian]. For if. the art of
\!'} p,olitician la r.ally the art:,of the polble, then .the pro-
gralllma'maker belongs to these of whomIt iald ilhat they
.the gods only if th.y ask and,.demand from'.!hem the
1i11poislbl. s : ' ,
.:OJ::. :;. ... ,
'Cr!4F.,Q!!!!, impossi6i/. becom it category oCpoliticaJ.thinking,
rcaUam. a, W:. !llready been
.. ,. f the wale. al)d preelud moral
. lU we' seen, men are gcmerally"preparetl
t<l:)iccept the judgm.nt of hl,tory onthe pa.t, 'prai.ing succe
aiiti condemning failure. Tbls t..t i. .1.0 widely appli.d to
ebntemporary pgJitics. Such .institutions as the League 07
or or Fascist regimes, arc_
s'nt lu'!ied by their .!!
!:acIifevs; '.iniJ t legitimaqy of thi! te,t i.
ljv;.lli.ir which con.tantly \QJlxaggsrate
tHeir. successes and their failures; Yet It is clear that
manklnd. a. a 'WlrolFlii not prepared to accept this ratlonal
i';f, '':' a' unIvcraalLy v, .. basis oLpolitlcal .judgment, The
that whatever surceeda is right, and hilS only
iina"';iood to b. approved, must, if
and th.r.by .t.rili and ultimat.l* de.tro>:
.1l.- Nor-do'thos. who phHo.ophy appears to exclude the
possibility of moral judgments in fact refrain from pronouncing
I R. Nlcbuhl", MH"J lJ... _J fm",.,.J Spuil)'. p. 81.
Hiller. M,l',. K"rnp/, p. '31.
9
1
The Limitations oj Rea/ism
whom he assumed to be e9ually. to and aCl
Lenin, who wrote of the. imminence of world revolution as a
U scientific prediction", admitted elsewhere that "no situa-
tions exist from which there is absolutely no way out ".1 In
moments of Lenin' appealed to his followers in ter-ms
wbichmight-,equa!ly"",elI hllve been'used bY.o
II ..o.fl!1=numanwllr:iSMu.;oiinl or-by
II At the...
JIl__ ..Y.2!Lt[tJqt...PJ:9-'lA fie "lrnnger, you 'mllst
k f!ic/qrfc1II-s lJ'.' Every whatever his. professions, is
ultimately compelled to believe not only that there is something
which rnarlought to' think endde, but that there is something-
which he can. think and' do, and that his thought and action
arc neither mechanical nor meaningie...
We return therefore to the conclusion that any sound :E0litical
utopia, and mstltut.lons, WhlCr are rea-bty. The comrw,QlIst
who set communism ilgainst thinkffig.
o!,wmmunism...as a pure ideal oLe.qwUitt..a.I1!L.9XQtnerhoo.d,
p-nd' of democracy as an ..
.Bcit.in.
I unia, JY#1'b (2nd Ruull.l1 ed.), ny. p340. .
s c.Jlu!.il Wn-.b (EnCI.tnml.), ,00. pt.!. p. 6S.
qJ
tb01tght must of both' "WilitY.
has become. a hollow and
.... as a dlSeuist: _fdr...t e.. prtvr..
1.1.....,.rl' . t orms an indispensable service in unmasking
It. Butpure realism can offer nothmgoUta naKed struggleJtr
I power which makes anv kind of mtemanonat SOCiety imoossl .:;'
Having demolished the current utopia _'?
..reaUsm,we still need to build a new utopia or our awn, which
;wilfoneda.y faU to the will Will
. continue to seex an esca e Ira
\ vision o, an as _S.OQn
:'it crvstllUisu".. pyJitic.al
..
be tbr: mstp'RlIRtl of rf\ 'sm.
Here .h.n is the comolexitv, the fascination and the
of aU political life. Politics are made up of two elements
utopia and reality belonging to two dill'erent planes which
can never meet. There IS no barrier to clear political
thinking than allure to distln ish between ideals, which are
o
,

_-
.' '.
..Th .fnternationa/ Crisis
them. Frederick' th'c "explained that treaties
should be' observed Cor".the, that'-lI .one can trick only
once '.'. goes .on to Can. the.:": ;.0. "treaties. If-. 3.;-bad. -and-
knllvish' policy", thoughthere}s n",\hing ...ili,;-?is to justify
the 'moral epithe!.,' ,.M""'. whose philosophY"'llppeared' to
demonstrate that .ell itiUs,ts. could anI act" in a. c.ertain :.w31,
mapy.pages. __ ..
- m denopnang the:
precisely that wa . The necesSity, reco msed'.91' aU'pohticlans,
-"[jOt in domestic "tin In'mlernatlonal affm...J!!t cloaking
iritrestJ. in a' lse or mora11princl lesds:in-itself. as m tom
ortlleTna e ua 0 rea Ism."' "v "',11. tCaims ,the "right. to
its own' values, .us",'u menta.m. e.. 19 t 0
tlieiii'; an even 1 It voo er
value,. &elieves in the! .its -own,
It refu... .to .accept.jhe implicllti.on '0(' thllt.,d'e. word
r,' .... ....,. ... ," .:..:r..;.: :., ... ,.,
Most of aU 'consistent realism"brea own
to roVI e any ground'(or' purposiy. ,"or II llC on.
the sequence 0 cause an ec IS:.5.. Y;.Qgl..
of the' .n scientific' prediction." -, of 0 ,if. is
irrevoca.bly conditioned. by':our' .status and .our .inten:.stil. then
both 'lletion and thought bccome,.devold,.o(,.puryose. If...!lI.
. Schopenhauer maintllins" tXlIephilo,oEhy
.Ist. of the tn'li{ t"l llti' .. .:oC..u: these
....cease1es.,changes, ' - the lam!'
unebanging' being;/pursuingthe.llme.c'nn.c,tQ,.d..y;;;y....tudlly;.....
and lor evcr ....' then.p:iiitv'c contcmplat!'!n.Is",aIl,!!iarteidiliiis
to ille . SuCh 'a conelu.sion,,!" .p!!"YJep,ilgiiaJIt, to
the most deep-sellted belic(o! man 'Thathumlln
aIiain .cllnb .' .' . . odilied', and
'. umlln thou ht is a: at" t!,re"ectlon
complltible/w! .. a. umlUl' emg,
Nor is it in fact ""jected' left tlIelJ-
mark on history:': Machillvelll, 'when he exhorted, hls .com-
patriots to. be goodItalians, eleax:ly
free to follow or 1200"; hi.
:'a hQu'J"oa\ b.c
J
.!Cvr.9 biw!Jc
I(
': rO!c" to
1
ffiInk " .lila; a
.proletariAn, and regarded it."aJ his.':mission'topenuade otJu:n.
ArtllNtlttAiftJl/, p. '48,
I "*1, ah WiTh.w"e Ynd,IIIl", iI. ch. 3&.
....
00
-..J
'" ,-., .
.....
00
00
I
Tlte [nternaiional c;risis
vested interests, the inequalities and tne ;;rrcssion inherent
in ali.powea1 uufi.tU1Joos I be democrat . o-m&tle-the..aa.mc
cOJ'T!parisQn was in fa.ct.cnwpadag an igoaJ.pattern of democracy
laid u in heaven with communism as an institution existfiig
111. OVlct its dass..dlvisjor!" Its heresy..hunts ana
its concentration campI. The compar"t;son. made. meach aile
between an jdeal and an institution, irrelevant and makes
no sense, -lfhe ideal, once it is emb9died in an institution,
ceases to be an "ldeal 'and-. expression
interest, whitt} must be"dei&o -cd in tnc name of a. new ideal.
T lis constant mt.c.tartio" or forces J!I t e 5tull' .
of politics. Every political situation contains mutually incom..
Yatibl.e. elements of .:
, This point will emerge more cleanly Tramthe analysif"' of
. the nature of politics which we have n9w to undertake.