the.com/realpolitik
politics stripped of pieties, run on leverage instead of vibes.
means a foreign-policy approach that judges actions by power and consequences rather than ideology or morals.
from coined in 1853 by german writer ludwig von rochau, who argued that laws of power, not law books, actually move history — bismarck then turned the theory into a career.
coined byludwig von rochau, 1853
practiced bybismarck, kissinger, metternich
often confused withcynicism, though it just prioritizes outcomes
opposite instinctidealism, judging policy by principle