Is it like a specific approach to doing politics, and how is it supposed to contrast with other aspects of politics?
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Realpolitik is the idea of saying or doing whatever is necessary to accomplish your political goals, regardless of morality or decency. If you ever do the right thing, it is because that advances your strategy, nothing more.
Since you have no other priorities, this theoretically makes you the most powerful politician in whatever arena you are in. The thinking goes is that since people that engage in realpolitik have a competitive edge against non-realpolitik politicians, that the most powerful political elite MUST be employing it because they’d have beaten anyone who wasn’t.
Note that realpolitik is not necessarily EVIL; often it is used to benefit one’s political base. But because of its pragmatic and amoral nature, it absolutely can and does lead to evil deeds being done.
Realpolitik describes a pragmatic approach to politics.
A nation may choose to focus on its own interests and goals rather than purely moral or ethical considerations.
The focus is often on diplomacy and compromise in order to achieve high-level objectives, even, if, at times, at the expense of some less important goals.
Doing stuff because it works and gets you what you want rather than worrying about ideological or moral considerations. E.g You might be a democracy and shouldn’t like dictatorships but you need their oil then cosy on up and be friendly anyway .. or take it.
It refers to politics based on pragmatism or realism rather than ideology. You may think that Ukraine is totally right and Russia is totally wrong, but hold a realpolitik position that Ukraine should cede territory in a compromise because it cannot win, the costs are too great for what it could hope to achieve by continuing the war, etc.
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Realpolitik is away of dealing with politics that places ideology second to practicality.
For example: Cardinal Richelieu, a historical leader of France, made deals and slipped money to protestants in the 1600s to counter the spanish and the HRE
Cardinal Richelieu was, as you might guess from the name, catholic, and in his day allying with protestants was *not fucking bonita* but it was the right move and led the French into political dominence that they rode most of.the way to the French revolution
It is related but not the same as machiavellianism. Sometimes the most correct course of action for your nation’s interest is to be the bad guy or to be friends with the bad guy
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