★★★★★ k.A. 25.07.2026 ean-shopping.de

Matthew Specters Interpretation von Realismus ist eine wirklich spannende und tiefgründige Auseinandersetzung, die ich sehr empfehle. Die Darstellung ist äußerst gelungen und bereichert das Verständnis des The Atlantic Realists erheblich.

★★★★★ k.A. 25.07.2026 ean-shopping.de

Toll!

★★★★★ Felix van Litsenburg 17.07.2023 amazon.de

I was recommended the book through the Adam Tooze substack and consequently had high expectations.Specter takes us on a trip of exchange in geopolitical / international relations thought between Germany and the United States. Thinkers like Mahan and Mackinder (British) influenced German thinkers like Ratzel, Schmitt and Haushofer, who in turn left their mark on later/contemporary thinkers such as Morgenthau and Bowman. It is therefore a great catalogue of interesting geopolitical thinkers and can serve as a springboard for further reading.Probably I am not the target audience for this book, as it assumes a degree of familiarity with all the above thinkers, as well as dozens of others. Had Specter explained briefly what were the main concepts, I would have enjoyed the book more.One other flaw, in my opinion, was the Godwin-like quality of the book. In particular on the chapter on Grewe, Specter seems to wildly flail about to establish that Grewe was an ardent Nazi supporter, despite his having been exonerated by the French in Freiburg. He condemns Grewe essentially because he, a German academic working in WW2, worked for the Nazi regime. Presumably, any baker active in Germany at that time would also have been condemned by Specter.One cannot escape the impression that Specter spuriously wants to link the realist school of thought in IR to Nazism, and this axe to grind can be a bit tiresome.