Friday Morning Group Hug

Friday’s class seemed to have quite the change of heart compared to Tuesday’s. On Tuesday, I think the class was divided fairly evenly between the pro- and anti-Machiavelli camps, but perhaps the realism lecture changed that. By the end of class on Friday, it seemed like we had gone from debating the merits and relevance of Machiavelli and realism today to a collective back rubbing and agreement. I got the impression that we, for the most part, reached the conclusion that very little, if anything fundamental had changed about the nation-state or world politics since Machiavelli’s time. All that has changed is what are considered acceptable means to the same end, the preservation of the state. However, one thing I touched on briefly on Tuesday is that I believe there has been one fundamental change since The Prince was written. The ability for information to be spread very quickly around the world has inherently changed the way world politics play out. All this does, however, is limit the means a state or leader is able to take in pursuit of the same ends. The prince is no longer always able to openly abuse his subjects and the army cannot always be used to quash any and all forms of rebellion without other states or large non-state actors noticing or getting involved. However, this does not by any means nullify or outdate the principles outlined by Machiavelli. In order to provide safety for its citizens, the state must be concerned first and foremost with its own self-preservation. And although territorial integrity is very important, it is also very situational, and often must be coupled with cultural identity, as we discussed in class Friday. Something I feel I should add here though, is that this does not give the state unlimited power to do everything in its grasp to save itself. Human rights must be preserved, and the citizens should not have to give up things guaranteed by the state, lest the state breaches its social contract, in which case a new government or state should be established.