The Philosopher & The News Has Trump Proved Realists Right?
14 snips
Feb 2, 2026 
Linda Kinstler, a legal and intellectual historian at the Harvard Society of Fellows and author of Come to This Court & Cry, joins to debate realism in international affairs. They probe whether brute force is just old statecraft, unpack Thucydides and the Melian dialogue, trace Monroe Doctrine roots, and ask if Trump’s candid power politics is a new mutation or plain realpolitik.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Power Over Law In International Politics
- Realism places power at the centre of international politics and treats international law as secondary to state interest.
- Linda Kinstler argues Trump's rhetoric exposes a darker, more explicit strain of realism that prizes brute force over legal niceties.
Realism Is Not Monolithic
- Realism is a broad intellectual family with many variants rather than a single doctrine.
- Kinstler and scholars describe it as a 'mansion of many rooms' centring state power but evolving across thinkers and eras.
Thucydides: Tragedy, Not Celebration
- The famous Thucydides line is often misread as endorsement of unbridled power, but can be read as tragic diagnosis.
- Kinstler notes realists view such episodes as warnings about hubris and overstretch, not celebration.
