Carl Schmitt and Hans Morgenthau: Realism and Beyond

Abstract

This paper traces the substantive overlap, or “hidden dialogue,” between Carl Schmitt and Hans Morgenthau in their observations about American liberalism and American foreign policy. A proper understanding of that overlap is indispensable if we are to make sense of Morgenthau’s idiosyncratic brand of Realism since Morgenthau unfortunately reproduces many weaknesses in Schmitt’s arguments when he borrows from Schmitt’s reflections. Given the recent revival of utopian models of transnational political and legal order, and the resurgence of Realist theory, this paper advocates meeting Morgenthau’s intellectual challenge despite his Schmittian intellectual baggage.