Liberal Pessimism: An Intellectual History of Suspicion in the Cold War

Abstract

Pessimism as a way of looking at the world that focuses on the ‘worst aspects of a thing’ is often associated with realism in International Relations (IR) theory. This chapter, in contrast, examines the intellectual history of a ‘liberal pessimism’ during the Cold War, illustrating the ways that the spectre of totalitarianism influenced Cold War liberal thinking. The mid-twentieth century was a pivotal moment where liberals made arguments about politics that began from new attitudes about the nature of the political: suspicion, cynicism, resignation and fear. Focusing on historian Jacob Talmon and philosopher Raymond Aron, the chapter reconstructs this intellectual milieu.