**It’s not uncommon to view politics and power as synonymous.** • Considered one of the _‘founding fathers’_ of realism, Hans Morgenthau defined power as a [“man’s control over the minds and actions of other men”](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-349-15398-5_4) and stated that all men are driven to achieve such dominance. The ‘struggle for power’, is described as “universal in time and space and an undeniable fact of experience”. The desire for power is a key element of politics and international politics more widely. • At a basic level, a struggle for power, is a situation where two or more people or groups, compete for influence with the aim of establishing power and control. Historically, there are several instances of contests for power, regardless of the social, economic, or political conditions of the time. • Morgenthau’s theory centres around the understanding that power is the dominant goal in international politics and dictates national interest. He maintained that [“all state actions seek to keep, demonstrate, or increase power”]( https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Morgenthau), and called for the recognition of the nature and limits of power. He encouraged the use of “traditional methods of diplomacy, including compromise”. The work of Hans Morgenthau sought to explain and understand the dynamics of power which facilitate the administration of control in society.

**Morgenthau was right in saying that all politics is a struggle for power. However - within these power struggles, for coexistence's sake there must also be an element of moral consideration, as he also acknowledged.** - Morgenthau's conception of power was that it is ["man's control over the minds and actions of other men".] (https://www.jstor.org/stable/24920100?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents) In the context in which he wrote, on the stage of post-WW2 international politics, it translates to the view that each state will act primarily in whichever way will further their national self-interest. - This 'power-'centric position rose in opposition to the pre-WW2 idea of liberalism. In 1938, [E. H. Carr] (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0305829810368192?journalCode=mila) wrote that liberalism, the argument that humans are inherently inclined to peacefulness, fails as an idea in the wake of the outbreak of worldwide conflict. - The resulting new position, 'realism' was laid out by Morgenthau in his 1948 text ['Politics Among Nations',] (https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/morg6.htm) where he provided the 6 Principles of Realism - which still underlie the theory as we understand it today. - Although Morgenthau's ideas of realism have links to [Hobbes] (https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/hobbes/themes/), and his classic view of humans as being inherently self-centred, his writings do not show an entirely ruthless view of international/domestic politics. Morgenthau also thought that the ["naked pursuit of power is politically untenable and personally undesirable"] (https://www.e-ir.info/2015/12/26/a-moral-vindication-of-morgenthaus-classical-realism/). And that strong foreign policy was the result of a combined interest in power & in morality. In other words - that ["it is possible to transcend the natural instincts that characterise human nature, thus attaining a basic moral code."] (https://www.e-ir.info/2015/12/26/a-moral-vindication-of-morgenthaus-classical-realism/)