Politics Among Nations

Morgenthau argues that order and security exist within states because of the existence of the “state itself” (525). Because of this, one solution to the problem of war and the existential threat of nuclear weapons is for nations to relinquish some or all their sovereignty to an international political institution.

Conditions of Domestic Peace

Peace within a nation between different social groups is guaranteed by those groups’ sense of loyalty to their society and their confidence in the institutions that preserve justice. Members of different social groups can be both friends and enemies; for example, two groups may disagree on politics but may nonetheless share economic interests and other loyalties. Likewise, even members of different social groups are unified by a shared language, culture, values, and so on. Ensuring peace within a society “is the overwhelming power with which society can nip in the bud all attempts at disturbing the peace” through the government’s monopoly of violence or through social pressure (529).

Order and security within a nation are maintained by the state, which Morgenthau defines as “the legal order that determines the conditions under which society may employ its monopoly of organized violence for the preservation of order and peace” (531). However, the state is just one aspect of society. If faith in justice breaks down and the state’s monopoly of violence and the power of law are no longer efficient, then the state cannot prevent a violent breakdown such as a civil war.

The Problem of the World State

If a “world state” is the only permanent solution to war (533), then the remaining question is what form such a world state should take. The 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill theorized that governments are either deliberate constructions by people or are “a sort of spontaneous product” (534). Mill concluded that states begin as constructions of human will but operate as though they have a mind of their own.

Morgenthau outlines three conditions that apply to states and asserts that they could also apply to a world government. A majority of people would have to accept the government, agree to maintain it, and follow its requirements. One problem is that there is no world society that would provide the basis for a world government. Additionally, people would not be willing to support a world government under modern circumstances. For example, Morgenthau contends that widespread racism would make it difficult for white people to exist in a world in which non-white races would have majority rule. Also, a world state would require nations to surrender their autonomy over issues of trade and immigration.

Two False Solutions

There are two proposals for creating a world state: one through global conquest and one through the creation of a confederation like the United States or Switzerland. Historical examples of conquest can be found in the Roman Empire and in other empires where the societies of conquered peoples continued to exist or even influenced the culture of the conquerors. Even then, an empire that conquered the world would, in order to function, have to be “a totalitarian monster resting on feet of clay” (538).

In order to create a Swiss-style confederation, there would have to be a series of “peculiar and […] unique circumstances” (540). Likewise, the United States already existed as a society before it became a government after the American Revolution.