John Bew

We have had some great politicians and Prime Ministers over the years and, how should I put this, some less than great ones too. Especially recently… Go back a few years though and you will find most political leaders of our country were also great statesmen too, working for the greater good of the country regardless of their particular hue of party. Several politicians spring to mind, but one that doesn't often is Clement Richard Attlee. Born in 1883 in Putney to Henry Attlee and Ellen nee Watson, he was the seventh of eight children. He was educated at Northaw School, then Haileybury College; and before getting a degree in modern history from University College, Oxford. From there he trained as a barrister and worked at his father's company and was called to the bar in 1906.

He served in The Great War, whilst his brother Tom was imprisoned for being a conscientious objector but was fortunate twice to escape heavy action that saw a lot of his regiment perish. The law was not where his passion lay though, having seen the poverty in the East End of London it inspired him to become politically active and he was first elected to the House of Commons in 1922 as the MP for Limehouse. Two years later he became a junior minister and a few years after that became a cabinet minister for the first time. Shortly after in 1931, the Labour Party were defeated in a general election, but Attlee held his seat. Four years later he was to become the leader of that party.

As tensions rose in Europe in the 1930s, he preferred pacifism and opposed rearmament, but was later to reverse his position. He became a strong critic of Chamberlain's attempts to appease Hitler and Mussolini and after war broke out joined the war coalition serving under Churchill as Deputy Prime Minister. In 1945 after the end of the war in Europe the, coalition fractured and a general election was called. Churchill expected to win, but he didn't, and Attlee had a landslide victory. His time as Prime Minister would prove to be the most progressive of all that held that position that century.

Bew has studied his subject in almost intimate detail and not just the written about the time that he spent as Prime Minister. The thorough research goes into the background that drove this fairly unassuming man to the political stance and outlook that he took consistently all his life. There are snippets and anecdotes that fill in the gaps from the official stories as well as lots of details from the life that he lived outside politics. It also goes some way to disproving the claim from those that opposed him that he had no intellectual or political footing, instead it shows a man of strong principles and rigour. For anyone with an interest in political history, this is a balanced and objective view of a man who should be considered the most radical PM of the 20th century.… (mais)

"Few thought he was even a starter.
There were many in life who were smarter.
But he finished PM,
A CH, an OM,
An earl and a Knight of the Garter."

Clement Attlee's autobiographical limerick summarizes well the course of his remarkable political career. From his early years as a social worker in London's East End and his service in the First World War he entered the House of Commons, where he rose steadily until the fracturing of Labour Party with the formation of the National government in 1931 and the subsequent general election wiped out nearly all of the party's parliamentary leadership. Having weathered the crisis as one of the few remaining former cabinet ministers still in Parliament, Attlee became the party's leader in 1935, where he enjoyed a remarkable twenty-year tenure that saw him lead the party into coalition with the Conservatives during the Second World War, then to a massive electoral victory in 1945 that made possible the establishment of Britain's postwar welfare state.

John Bew is not the first historian to write about Attlee's life, but his biography is easily one of the best. It is in many ways an intellectual portrait of the man, charting the development of his socialist views and patriotic attitudes and showing how they shaped his career. The title itself hints at his overall argument, which is that Attlee's patriotism and sense of duty is key to understanding his popularity and political success. It shows just how remarkable of a figure he was, one who, for all his modest, unassuming nature, dominated so many of the political titans of his age.… (mais)

Realpolitik: A History by John Bew is a study of one of the most misused words in the discussion of international relations. Bew is Reader in History and Foreign Policy at the War Studies Department at King's College London and Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence. In 2013 he became the Henry A. Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress.

The word realpolitik usually brings a host of terms to mind. The mind registers unilateral retaliation, Reagan, carpet bombing of South East Asia, nuclear deterrent, and perhaps a single man more than anyone else -- Henry Kissinger. The problem is all these examples are wrong. Most reflect realism and not realpolitik. Kissinger said many times he was not Realpolitik, but as a realist with a German accent how could he be anything else. Reagan was not realpolitik either; he was a hard line romantic.

Realpolitik formed from the failed revolutions throughout 1848 Europe. It is tied in with nationalism and acting in a manner that is within the realm of the practical. Internally, realpolitik united the people under nationalism creating a system that distracted people from creating disorder that the 1848 revolutions brought to Europe. Bismark is often credited as an early supporter of the policy. His goal was to keep the state strong, but at the same time giving some ground to liberal or socialist policies to prevent a bottom-up type rebellion. By the late nineteenth century, realpolitik had lost its original meaning and had drifted to mean a more brutal power politics.

Bew gives the reader a complete history of realpolitik from its modern creator Ludwig von Rochau to perhaps one of America’s greatest international relations thinker Hans Morgenthau and post-WWII foreign policy. Also examined are swings in American policy from realpolitik to anti-realpolitik. Carter and Clinton would be the best known anti-realpolitik turning to moral guidelines in foreign policy. Perhaps the closest modern realpolitik president was George H. W. Bush who used power and alliance for limited practical goals. However, he was criticized for that. The freeing of Kuwait was the immediate and formal goal. Remove the threat, punish the enemy militarily and economically, but do not leave a vacuum of power. The mission was successful. It had realistic goals and was not distracted by non-reachable idealism. Two decades later the plan was to remove the Iraqi leader, disband the military, and be welcomed as arriving heroes bringing peace and democracy. This was not successful. There was no clear threat, it created a power vacuum that as of yet not been filled, and it was deeply set in unrealistic idealism.

Realpolitik is a comprehensive look at a mid-nineteenth century theory that has been interpreted and reinterpreted through the last one hundred and fifty years. Like many terms and ideas, it has changed from its original intent and has even developed regional meanings. It is a catch phrase, in America, that has come to mean power politics without a moral compass. It opposes idealism and the liberal theory. But, what realpolitik is and the role it plays in today’s society are two very different things.





… (mais)