Word: realpolitiker
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Sitting in front of his blackboard in a Gaza university, Professor Mohammed Shabir, 60, is more at home in the microscopic realms of squirming protozoa than he is with Palestinian realpolitik. But that may soon change. The main Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas need to come up with a compromise candidate for prime minister of a unity government led by technocrats, and Shabir may be just the man. The position needs someone respected by the armed Palestinian factions, who at the same time is acceptable to the international community, which has withheld funds from the Palestinian Authority since Hamas took...
...doctrine of realism, or its Prussian-accented cousin realpolitik, emphasizes a hard-nosed focus on clearly defined national interests, such as economic or security goals, pursued with a pragmatic calculation of commitments and resources. Idealism, on the other hand, emphasizes moral values and ideals, such as spreading democracy, and is apt to be more crusading and sentimental in its willingness to pay any price and bear any burden. Adherents of the second cliché argue that these days there is little distinction between the two because spreading democracy is in our economic and security interest. Our difficulties in Iraq, however, show...
...Gates's appointment means Bush is waking up to realpolitik, Bob Gates is as good an aide as any. Who knows, he may be the one who will set the stage for an eventual withdrawal from Iraq. After all, he knows all about failed Middle East policies, and how to salvage what can be salvaged. And Bush certainly can use a little of Gates's discretion. Another prima donna at the Pentagon is the last thing the President needs...
...discussion of major public issues. Religious rhetoric and symbols are employed in identity politics in the United States and around the world. Some may want to throw up their hands and wish religion would simply disappear, as it was supposed to with the onslaught of modernity. But realpolitik dictates otherwise...
Again, the critique is one of realpolitik, and if anything, comes from the moderate right—Ricks is saying that we’ve made a mess, and the only way to fix it is with a Hail Mary decision to put more Special Forces troops into the fray...