Thucydides, Hobbes, and the Interpretation of Realism

This original study has been consistently cited by scholars of international relations who explore the roots of realism in Thucydides's history and the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. While acknowledging that neither thinker fits perfectly within the confines of international relations realism, Laurie Johnson proposes Hobbes's philosophy is more closely aligned with it than Thucydides's. Johnson argues that Thucydides presents a way of analyzing international relations that deviates in significant ways from standard realist and neorealist views of international relations, ways which might be particularly helpful to constructivists. Thucydides, if read carefully and comprehensively, takes seriously the independent role of national character, the individual personalities and characters of statesmen, the role of political rhetoric, and the role of moral concerns in formulating judgments about political events. From Thucydides's point of view, as Johnson shows, realism and neorealism can be seen as specific forms of political rhetoric, even as ideologies, subject to practical as well as moral evaluation by policy-makers and analysts. This book should appeal to those interested in Hobbes and Thucydides, political philosophers in particular.