I'm currently reading 'World Order' by Henry Kissenger, a proponent of Realpolitik, which is defined as politics or diplomacy based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical premises. In other words, pragmatism.
It's a history of world order, or international relations for the prevention of war, going through (as far as Europe is concerned) the Westphalian System, the Concert of Europe, etc, ending with the EU. I was surprised to discover that the philosopher, Immanuel Kant, was one of the first proponents of a federal Europe to prevent nationalism, which he saw as the prime cause of war.
The answer, Kant held, was a voluntary federation of republics pledged to non-hostility and transparent domestic and international conduct. Their citizens would cultivate peace because, unlike despotic rulers, when considering hostilities, they would he deliberating about “calling down on themselves all the miseries of war.” Over time the attractions of this compact would become apparent, opening the way toward its gradual expansion into a peaceful world order. It was nature’s purpose that humanity eventually reason its way toward “a system of united power, hence a cosmopolitan system of general political security” and “a perfect civil union of mankind.”
It's a history of world order, or international relations for the prevention of war, going through (as far as Europe is concerned) the Westphalian System, the Concert of Europe, etc, ending with the EU. I was surprised to discover that the philosopher, Immanuel Kant, was one of the first proponents of a federal Europe to prevent nationalism, which he saw as the prime cause of war.
The answer, Kant held, was a voluntary federation of republics pledged to non-hostility and transparent domestic and international conduct. Their citizens would cultivate peace because, unlike despotic rulers, when considering hostilities, they would he deliberating about “calling down on themselves all the miseries of war.” Over time the attractions of this compact would become apparent, opening the way toward its gradual expansion into a peaceful world order. It was nature’s purpose that humanity eventually reason its way toward “a system of united power, hence a cosmopolitan system of general political security” and “a perfect civil union of mankind.”
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