The Personal Is Political in Foreign Relations

If one would explain how the most abstruse metaphysical claims of a philosopher really came about,” Nietzsche wrote in Beyond Good and Evil, “it is always well (and wise) to ask first: at what morality does all this (does he) aim?” With regard to any philosopher, he went on, “there is nothing whatever that is impersonal; and above all, his morality bears decided and decisive witness to who he is.” Substitute “policymaker” or “strategist” for “philosopher” and you have a pretty good idea of what Ned O’Gorman is up to in this sometimes insightful, often exasperating book.