Fear, interest and honour: outlines of a theory of International Relations |
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| Authors: | RICHARD NED LEBOW |
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| Institution: | James O. Freedman Presidential Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, United States. He is a fellow of the Centre of International Studies and Wolfson College, at the University of Cambridge. His most recent single-authored book is The tragic vision of politics: ethics, interests and orders;(2003). He is co-editor (with Richard K. Herrman) of Learning from the Cold War (2004), (with Claudio Fogu and Wulf Kansteiner) of The politics of memory in postwar Europe (2006), and (with Philip Tetlock and Geoff rey Parker) of Unmaking the West: alternative histories of the creation, rise, and fall of western civilization (2006). |
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| Abstract: | This article justifies the need for a new paradigm of politics based on the spirit. Fifth-century Greeks considered it one of three psychic drives, the other two being appetite and reason. The spirit reflects the universal human need for self-esteem, which is achieved by emulating the skills, character and accomplishments of people considered praiseworthy by our society. According to Socrates, the spirit loves honour and victory. It responds with anger to any impediment to self-assertion in private or civic life. It desires to avenge all slights of honour or standing to ourselves and our friends. It demands immediate action, which can result in ill-considered behaviour, but can be advantageous in circumstances where rapid responses are necessary. Even a cursory examination of international relations in this modern period indicates the continuing importance of the spirit, and the need to conceptualize it in a manner that helps us to understand this important but hitherto ignored dimension of politics at every level of social aggregation. |
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