Politics Among Nations

Morgenthau defines a nation as “an abstraction from a number of individuals who have certain characteristics in common” (117). National power does contain a contradiction, given that even though a nation can become powerful, the individuals of that nation do not gain more power; only their leaders do. This dynamic raises the question of why people still personally identify with the power of their nation. Morgenthau posits that some individuals remain frustrated with their lack of power in their own lives and compensate for this issue by identifying with the power of their nation. This pattern is particularly common among the lower middle class and the working classes. At the same time, other segments of the population hold similar frustrations but do not identify with the power of the nation at all. Instead, they become hostile to their own nation’s foreign policy. Morgenthau believes that in recent times, as the quality of life of less affluent people has declined, these trends have become more of an issue.

Roots of Modern Nationalism

Before the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, only a small elite felt invested in the nation. The majority of the population instead identified with the individual monarch.