Sick Security K Article

Philip Slater: REALPOLITIK VS. REALITY

from Breaking News and Opinion on The *Huffington Post* by Philip Slater

Obama's election provides an opportunity to reconsider the utility of realpolitik, the guiding principle of American foreign policy for the past sixty years. Realpolitik is supposed to be 'practical', but one can't escape the feeling that it would be better termed dummheitpolitik, since it has been the major cause of almost every foreign policy problem we face in the world today. Building up Osama bin