MORGENTHAU AND WALTZ ON IR

Politics, like society in general, is governed by objective laws that have their roots in human nature.
The main signpost that helps political realism is the concept of interest defined in terms of power.

Hans Morgenthau, Politics among Nations (1985: 4, 5)

The factors that distinguish international politics are:

(1) that the stakes of the game are considered to be of unusual importance and (2) that in international politics the use of force is not excluded as a means of influencing the outcome.
The cardinal rule of the game is often taken to be: Do what you must in order to win it.

Kenneth Waltz, Man, The State and War (1959: 205)

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