How international relations theorists can benefit by reading Thucydides.
The Monist › Vol. 89 Nbr. 2, April 2006
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How international relations theorists can benefit by reading Thucydides.
Often regarded as the father of realism in international relations, Thucydides was a historian and an original political thinker who described and analyzed social and political events that occurred during the Peloponnesian War, which broke out in 431 B.C. between Athens and Sparta. Thucydides' masterpiece, the History of the Peloponnesian War is not a work of political philosophy nor a sustained theory of international politics. Much of the History consists of paired speeches by personages who argue both sides of an issue. In these speeches and in Thucydides' own comments on the events that take place, we can catch a glimpse of a theory that is implied, but nowhere fully formulated or made explicit. Although Thucydides implies that he exemplifies universal truths about human nature, civil society, and interstate relationships, he does not present this point of view explicitly, and never engages with other thinkers in a debate. (1) Nevertheless, if the History is described as the only acknowledged classical text in international relations, and if it inspires theorists from Hobbes to contemporary international relations scholars, this is because it is more than a chronicle of events, and a theoretical position can be extrapolated from it.
The History of the Peloponnesian War is usually seen as an archetypal statement of power politics. Thucydides is regarded as a political realist who asserts that the pursuit of moral principles does not enter the world of international affairs. (2) I want to show that, on the contrary, we find in Thucydides a complex theory. He supports neith...See the full content of this document
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