Revisiting the ‘darker side’ of democratic peace: Morgenthau, reflexivity and the role of scholars in times of deception

Karkour, Haro 2025. Revisiting the ‘darker side’ of democratic peace: Morgenthau, reflexivity and the role of scholars in times of deception. Review of International Studies

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Abstract

While critical literature sought to expand the agenda of a reflexive approach to democratic peace, it does not explain how reflexivity can be carried to the public, particularly in times of public deception, and what practical tools theorists hold, qua public intellectuals, to advance this objective. This article argues that classical realism, Hans Morgenthau’s work in particular, can amend this lacuna. Morgenthau’s signpost of ‘interest defined in terms of power’ arms critical scholars with an important tool to retain the premises of Kantian democratic peace; that is, it helps preserve an open public sphere where the public can deliberate the nation’s fundamental interests and values spatio-temporally, and offer democratic control. The significance of this contribution is twofold: first, public reflexivity is key in times of deception because in these times scholars who seek to influence elites find themselves in the paradoxical position to renounce reflexivity or risk irrelevance. Second, in the absence of an open public sphere where social solidarity and meaning can be formed spatio-temporally, deception feeds into an environment of mistrust and alienation that renders democracy ripe for demagogues.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Department of Politics and International Relations (POLIR)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JZ International relations
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0260-2105
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	21 July 2025
Date of Acceptance:	21 July 2025
Last Modified:	22 Jul 2025 13:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179928

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