Kenneth W. Thompson, The Prophet of Norms: Thought and Practice

214 Pages·2013·1.296 MB·English

by  Farhang Rajaee (auth.)

Kenneth W. Thompson, the Prophet of Norms
Palgrave Macmillan History of International Thought
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By Ian Hall By Farhang Rajaee
Kenneth W. Thompson, the
Prophet of Norms
Thought and Practice
Farhang Rajaee
KENNETH W. THOMPSON, THE PROPHET OF NORMS
Copyright © Farhang Rajaee, 2013.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-30178-9
All rights reserved.
First published in 2013 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
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ISBN 978-1-349-45367-2 ISBN 978-1-137-30179-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137301796
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rajayi, Farhang, 1952 or 1953.
Kenneth W. Thompson, the prophet of norms : thought and practice /
Farhang Rajaee.
p. cm.—(Palgrave Macmillan history of international thought)
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Thompson, Kenneth W., 1921– 2. Political scientists—United States.
3. International relations—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title.
JC251.T56R35 2013
320.092—dc23
[B] 2012038711
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
D esign by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: March 2013
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments v ii
Major Events in the Life of Kenneth W. Thompson xiii
1 A Profile 1
Part I Entrepreneur of Praxis 37
2 Theory and Practice 39
3 Exercising Practice 57
Part II Promoter of Education 83
4 Pillars of Education 85
5 Practicing Education 99
Part III Expounder of Theory 119
6 Politics and International Relations 1 21
7 Practicing Statecraft 155
8 Summation 175
Notes 183
Bibliography 185
Index 203
Preface and Acknowledgments
The legacy of Kenneth Winfred Thompson (hereafter referred to
as KWT) as an international relations theorist has been eclipsed
quantitatively by the volume of works he has authored, edited,
and published and the multiplicity of topics he has dealt with in a public
career in academia, national, and international forums, and cultural
institutions spanning more than half a century. Qualitatively, attempts
to summarize and classify his work succinctly are similarly hampered,
due to his conviction that any attempt to give a clear portrait of the
political inevitably misrepresents its complexity. His book Masters of
International Thought (1980) discusses the views and theories of a host
of modern international theorists such as Herbert Butterfield, Hans
J. Morgenthau, Raymond Aron, and others. A major omission in that
book is the name “Kenneth W. Thompson.” I rectify that omission in
the present work. The fact that KWT has been neglected is unfortunate
and one of the rationales for this book is that his international thought
deserves an independent treatment. The aim of this book is to highlight
KWT’s thought, especially his International Relations Theory, and his
contribution to the development of the discipline. His career reveals
that he has done this in three different ways: as an entrepreneur of
praxis in the fields of politics and international relations, as an educa-
tor, and, more importantly, as a theorist. These three broad areas shape
the organization of the present work.
I dreamed of writing this work when I attended the University of
Virginia for my doctoral studies in the 1980s. Arriving to a gradu-
ate seminar KWT offered on “Normative Theories of International
Relations,” I had no idea that not only had I entered into my lifelong
journey as a private individual as well as an academic, but that my very
being would be influenced and shaped by the man I had until then
known only by name. I had read about KWT and studied some of his
works, but being in his presence, and even more so working as one of
viii ● Preface and Acknowledgments
his assistants, was a wonderful experience. His gentle voice, empower-
ing gestures, soft smile, and kind disposition alleviated the anxieties
of a new graduate student, while promising a magical challenge ahead.
The magic of the seminar as well as the interaction with him mani-
fested itself in his insistence that politics is a “practical knowledge,”
a scientific inquiry crowned by the realization that it is imperative to
make considered decisions and engage in practical judgment rather than
invoking general abstract formulae. KWT demonstrated how decisions
are best made through combining ideas, realities, and morality. These
are part and parcel of any successful political thinking, activity, and
policy formulation or articulation, at all places and in all epochs. What
really struck me was KWT’s exemplary behavior in displaying how this
perennial truth applied not just to the life and career of the polities,
but to those of the individual, and by extension, to those of the fam-
ily and all other groups. It became evident that humanity’s life takes
place within the conditions of complex interactions among ideals, prac-
tices, and morality, and in harmonious, competitive, and conflicting
tendencies, all at the same time. Needs, interests, and altruism do not
work against one another, but in complex, ambiguous, and paradoxi-
cal ways, and at the same time within the context of a given time and
place. Then and there, I made a mental note that one day I would write
about this figure who could create such a magical occasion for seekers
of knowledge about the political world. My response to KWT was also,
however, a major obstacle to writing this book, and only the passage of
time could remove that obstacle; so intimidated was I by his achieve-
ments and his enormous body of published works, and so reverent was
I toward the man. This intimidation was not particular to me. When
in 1988 a group of his former students, including me, dedicated a book
to him called M oral Reasoning and Statecraft, with the exception of the
short introduction by the editor, none of the contributors treated his
ideas or works.
Now that I have finally arrived at the point of realizing that wish, I
hope to follow the Aristotelian tradition of being guided more by “the
pursuit of truth” than by reverence for my teacher. In this, as in so
much else, KWT himself is an inspiration and a source of emulation.
My enormous respect for him as my teacher, intellectual mentor, and
exemplary guide notwithstanding, I follow the same conviction he him-
self followed when writing his work Masters of International Thought ,
which treated some of his own teachers and mentors. He stated that
the thinkers he examined were “intellectual giants, but they are human
beings, not gods” (B1980b: xi). I have worked on this book with the same
Preface and Acknowledgments ● ix
conviction: even though KWT is an intellectual giant, and I add a giant
human being, he is not a god, and thus he comes under the same scru-
tiny as any subject of rigorous and critical evaluation and inquiry.
Beyond my intellectual debt to KWT, there are various reasons why
KWT deserves to be analyzed as a major contributor to the field of
International Relations. I concentrate on three of them that helped me
organize my presentation of his ideas and views in this work. The first
is his career as an entrepreneur of practice through his role as an active
member of the academy of political science, a public intellectual, and as
a promoter of education in the United States as well as throughout the
world. The second reason relates to his contribution as an educator who
had spent his life not just teaching but also inspiring future generation
of teachers, thinkers, scholars, and practitioners of politics and interna-
tional relations. And the third reason relates to his career as a theorist,
advocating a broad and comprehensive theory of international relations
(although he has been known more as a realist and one who emphasizes
the normative dimension of political life).
Moreover, I claim that, unlike those of most other theorists, KWT’s
theory aims to explain world politics as it is practiced in real life. The
keen observer and international theorist R. B. J. Walker makes a dis-
tinction that helps explain what I mean: “Theories of international rela-
tions are more interesting as aspects of contemporary world politics that
need to be explained than as explanations of contemporary world poli-
tics” (1993: 6). In other words, careful reading and contemplation of
the contributions of various theories reveal insights about the thinkers’
imaginative and sometimes innovative ways of analyzing about global
politics. It does not, however, help to understand the actual working of
global politics or what is in fact happening in the real world. KWT’s
works are different, however, in that they help us navigate the ocean of
the political and grasp its nuances, both within and beyond the borders
of contemporary states. More so, they help us grasp the nuances of theo-
retical, practical, and moral dimensions of politics, and I dare say, they
contribute powerful insights into politics at large. This is not to say that
he has provided ready answers for dealing with the difficult questions
that humanity faces in the political sphere. But rather, the strength of
his works lies in helping readers ask the right questions and identify
which dilemmas one has to think about when facing political issues. To
use his own vocabulary, through theoretical contributions and practi-
cal achievements, KWT has hoped to leave behind what he, à la Walter
Lippmann, calls a “public philosophy” for the twentieth century by the
means and methodology of “the recovery of the lasting principles of
x ● Preface and Acknowledgments
politics” (B1981b: 6), in the same fashion as the founding fathers of the
United States did for their time (68 and 208).
Following a profile of his life in chapter 1 , I have organized the book
into three parts, each part containing two chapters. C hapter 2 presents
his view of the meaning, composition, and anatomy of theory. Chapter
3 concentrates on KWT’s preoccupation with the practical world, in
two different places: the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City and
the Miller Center for Public Affairs in Charlottesville, Virginia. Part
two concentrates on him as an educator by considering his theory and
practice of education. The pillars of education—individual, institution,
and purpose—are the subject matter of chapter 4 , while his educational
methods are described in c hapter 5. Part three deals with KWT as a
theorist, once again in two chapters. I capture his theory of politics and
international relations in chapter 6 , and I canvass his understanding
of the practice of statecraft in chapter 7 . In the final chapter, I assume
the role of a critical evaluator in order to offer a summation of KWT’s
contribution to the world of politics.
A s always, no human endeavor is a solitary enterprise. Although this
project is the fruit of an idea long in fermentation, the immediate spark
and encouragement came when Professor Brian Schmitt, a colleague at
Carleton University, suggested I contribute to the Palgrave Macmillan
History of International Thought Series. I jumped at the opportunity,
realizing that the time had come to execute my wish to write about
KWT. Sincere thanks to Brian, not just for giving me the spark, but also
sharing with me some of his files, documents, and references related to
KWT; my vagabond life, moving from the United States to Iran and
from there migrating to Canada, has meant dismantling my own library
three times, at the cost of losing many of my own notes and files in the
process. But the generous support of others always warms my heart and
never stops amazing me with the recognition of the resilience, care,
and humanity that live in each one of us. Without this recurring bless-
ing, I could not have had the rich life-experience that I have had ever
since leaving my village of Khosbeijan, somewhere in the heart of Iran,
when I was seven years old in 1959. Alphabetically, I list and salute here
those who contributed to this work in their individual unique ways.
They include scholars, friends, librarians, and other individuals who
have helped and supported me: Shirley Burke; Inis Claude, Jr.; William
David Clinton; Robert Fatton, Jr.; Lowell Gustafson; Patrick J. Jones;
David Long; John Osborne; Eugene Price; Tom Rosenbaum; Robert
Strong; Kenneth C. Thompson; Paul A. Thompson; Johannes Wolfart,
and James S. Young. Finally I thank those people who have helped me