Hans Morgenthau

Hans Morgenthau was a German-American jurist and political scientist who was one of the major 20th-century figures in the study of international relations. He is widely regarded as the founder of the classical realist school of thought, which emphasizes the role of power and national interest in world politics. He also made significant contributions to the fields of international law, political theory, and U.S. foreign policy. Morgenthau was born in an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Coburg, Germany in 1904. He studied law and political science at the universities of Berlin, Frankfurt, and Munich, where he received his doctorate in 1929. He also did postdoctoral work at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. He taught and practiced law in Frankfurt before fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933. He spent two years in Switzerland and Spain before emigrating to the United States in 1937. He became a naturalized citizen in 1943. Morgenthau taught at various academic institutions in the U.S., including Brooklyn College, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Chicago, the City College of New York, and the New School for Social Research. He was also a consultant to the U.S. Department of State during the early Cold War and a public intellectual who wrote extensively for popular magazines and journals. He was a frequent critic of American interventionism and advocated for a realistic and moral approach to foreign affairs. Morgenthau's most influential work was Politics Among Nations, first published in 1948 and revised several times until his death. The book presented his theory of political realism, which argued that politics is governed by immutable laws of nature and that states act according to their national interest defined as power. He also stressed the importance of ethical and legal norms in limiting the use of power and promoting peace. The book became a classic text for students and scholars of international relations and influenced generations of realist thinkers. Morgenthau also wrote many other books and articles on various topics related to world politics, such as Scientific Man vs. Power Politics (1946), In Defense of the National Interest (1951), Dilemmas of Politics (1958), The Purpose of American Politics (1960), Politics in the Twentieth Century (1962), Truth and Power (1970), and Science: Servant or Master? (1972). He also edited or co-authored several volumes on international law, human rights, nuclear weapons, Vietnam War, Middle East conflict, and world order. Morgenthau died on July 19, 1980, shortly after being admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York with a perforated ulcer. He is buried in the Chabad section of Montefiore Cemetery, in proximity to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, with whom he had a respectful relationship. He was survived by his wife Ethel Gross Morgenthau, whom he married in 1932, and their three sons: Hans Jr., David, and Matthew Morgenthau.