Meaning
A style of politics based on practical power, circumstances, and material interests rather than on ideology, ideals, or moral principles. Usually neutral and analytical in diplomatic and historical writing, though it can serve as a polite byword for cynicism. English use tends to foreground the ruthless, calculating side of the concept more than German usage, where it can simply mean realistic rather than idealistic politics. Analytical to slightly cynical register; a staple of foreign-policy commentary and history journalism. Regional use: General English (borrowed from German).
Origin
German Realpolitik joins real, from the Latin-derived realis 'actual' (ultimately from res 'thing, matter, affair'), with Politik 'politics' - in effect 'politics of what is actually possible'. The writer and politician Ludwig von Rochau coined it in his 1853 book Grundsätze der Realpolitik, arguing that the law of power governs the world of states as the law of gravity governs the physical world; a second volume followed in 1869. The term became attached to Bismarck's statecraft and was widespread in German by 1890. Merriam-Webster dates first known English use to 1895, and the Online Etymology Dictionary records its established English sense, politics driven by practical considerations, from 1914, around the outbreak of the First World War.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- realpolitiker
Usage Examples
- The treaty was less a victory for ideals than an exercise in cold realpolitik.
- Her memoir describes the realpolitik of coalition building, where every promise carries a price.
- Commentators praised the foreign minister's grasp of realpolitik after the border deal was signed.