This book is for: anyone interested in apocalyptic thinking in politics, who will find examples of how this thinking shapes contemporary discourse; scholars of the history of political thought, who will find new interpretations of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Morgenthau; and scholars of international relations, who will find a novel account of the political realist tradition.

Apocalyptic rhetoric creates dangerous politics; three great thinkers show how clear-eyed realism is our best hope.