Meaning Of Machiavellianism And Contemporary US Foreign Politics
Practical Meaning of Machiavellianism and
Contemporary US Foreign Politics
Zhiyuan Lu
Penn State University
Author Note
Zhiyuan Lu: Penn State University student. Major: Economics Minor: Business
Practical Meaning of Machiavellianism and Contemporary US Foreign Politics
Politics can involve a wide variety of ethical issues, ranging from making certain policies to accepting campaign financing. Today’s political environments are quite different from that of six century ago. However, Machiavelli’s ideas may still be useful in today’s political issues. In Machiavelli’s era, people can hardly imagine a country be founded like this. Obviously it is impossible to compare political ethics …show more content…
He was the second chancery and the member of diplomatic council, which is responsible for negotiation and military affairs. The Prince is his conclusion of fourteen years of political career and diplomatic experience. Although people are criticizing him for being too brutal for centuries and even invented the word “Machiavellian” to describe expediency, deceit and cunning, however, his ideas are actually rational and practical in most cases. After reading the whole book, I think there are lots of experience we can learn from and put into practical use. I think the most successful application of his theory is applying it to the extreme while not showing Machiavellian to the public during the …show more content…
Due to good decision-making and daily management mechanism, US government totally avoided the probability of making highly flawed decisions like autocratic rulers. I believe all of the policies that the government made are meant to maintain the interest of US people, keep the stable of the US society or at least safeguard the interests of one’s own party. In a country like the US that put nation’s interest and human rights first, is not easy to embody ethics in foreign politics. In The Prince, Machiavelli (1988) discussed the importance of having a strong army in many chapters. Based on his time, he suggests that a prince should not depend on mercenary or auxiliary armies. The US not only needs mercenary and auxiliary armies but also has the strongest army in the world. According to the report made by SIPRI(Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) in 2011 the USA is responsible for 41 percent of the world total military expenditure. 712.7 billion dollars have been spent on US military in 2011, the figure is more than twice of the second country on the list (Shah,
Contemporary US Foreign Politics
Zhiyuan Lu
Penn State University
Author Note
Zhiyuan Lu: Penn State University student. Major: Economics Minor: Business
Practical Meaning of Machiavellianism and Contemporary US Foreign Politics
Politics can involve a wide variety of ethical issues, ranging from making certain policies to accepting campaign financing. Today’s political environments are quite different from that of six century ago. However, Machiavelli’s ideas may still be useful in today’s political issues. In Machiavelli’s era, people can hardly imagine a country be founded like this. Obviously it is impossible to compare political ethics …show more content…
He was the second chancery and the member of diplomatic council, which is responsible for negotiation and military affairs. The Prince is his conclusion of fourteen years of political career and diplomatic experience. Although people are criticizing him for being too brutal for centuries and even invented the word “Machiavellian” to describe expediency, deceit and cunning, however, his ideas are actually rational and practical in most cases. After reading the whole book, I think there are lots of experience we can learn from and put into practical use. I think the most successful application of his theory is applying it to the extreme while not showing Machiavellian to the public during the …show more content…
Due to good decision-making and daily management mechanism, US government totally avoided the probability of making highly flawed decisions like autocratic rulers. I believe all of the policies that the government made are meant to maintain the interest of US people, keep the stable of the US society or at least safeguard the interests of one’s own party. In a country like the US that put nation’s interest and human rights first, is not easy to embody ethics in foreign politics. In The Prince, Machiavelli (1988) discussed the importance of having a strong army in many chapters. Based on his time, he suggests that a prince should not depend on mercenary or auxiliary armies. The US not only needs mercenary and auxiliary armies but also has the strongest army in the world. According to the report made by SIPRI(Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) in 2011 the USA is responsible for 41 percent of the world total military expenditure. 712.7 billion dollars have been spent on US military in 2011, the figure is more than twice of the second country on the list (Shah,