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A Realist's Moral Opposition to War: Han J. Morgenthau and Vietnam
Author(s) -
Rafshoon Ellen Glaser
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/0149-0508.00178
Subject(s) - vietnam war , opposition (politics) , foreign policy , realism , international relations , politics , political science , sociology , political economy , law , epistemology , philosophy
This article examines Hans J. Morgenthau's critique of U.S. policies in Vietnam. Morgenthau, renowned for his advocacy of realism in foreign affairs, was one of the few political commentators to raise questions about nation‐building efforts in South Vietnam in the 1950s. After full‐scale military intervention in the 1960s, he became the foremost academic critic of the war. Morgenthau demonstrated a dramatic evolution in his views. In the 1950s, he expressed reservations about Indochina policies based on pragmatic concerns. Over time, however, his analysis of Vietnam policies focused on their ethical shortcomings. His examination of the ethics of the Vietnam war led him to revise his notion of how national interests should be determined in making foreign policy, from a calculation based on purely strategic factors to one that also takes moral factors into account.