| Abstract: | The ‘classical Realist’ thinkers Hans J Morgenthau and John Herz developed a puissant yet typically overlooked critique of technology. Driven by fears of nuclear warfare, they broke with Realism's inappropriately nonchalant view of technological development. Morgenthau focused on the dangers of a naïve faith in technological growth, arguing that it typically generated an apolitical and potentially irresponsible view of international politics. Even more effectively, Herz zeroed in on the problem of what he described as technological acceleration, according to which the rapid pace of recent technological change threatens humanity's future. While Morgenthau's ideas on technology are ultimately tension ridden, Herz still provides a fruitful starting point for any version of international relations theory hoping to take the phenomenon of social speed or acceleration seriously. Many of his reflections anticipated the contemporary debate among social theorists about the high-speed temporality of contemporary society. |
