Chapter II, The Revenge of Geography; Chapter III, Herodotus and His Successors Summary and Analysis

True foreign policy realism is more art than science and realizes that need to hedge on two historical analogies, between appeasement at Munich prior to World War II and disaster in Vietnam. Human motivations must be taken into account, particularly the motives of fear, self-interest and honor. Pragmatism means admitting that states exist in a much more limited moral universal than individuals. States have to protect the well-being of millions and error can be disastrous. Human nature means mass conflict and force. Realism famously follows Hans Morgenthau.

And yet to be too much of a realist is to forget the importance of morality in foreign policy. It cannot all concern the pragmatic and ultimately unstable balancing of power. Realists...