English

Noun

Realpolitik ‎(uncountable)

1. Alternative letter-case form of realpolitik.

German

Etymology

real ‎(“real”) +‎ Politik ‎(“politics”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁeˈaːlpoliˌtɪk/

Noun

Realpolitik f

1. realpolitik (government policy)

Descendants

• English: realpolitik
• Finnish: reaalipolitiikka

English

Noun

realpolitik ‎(countable and uncountable, plural realpolitiks)

1. (politics) Pragmatic international government policy concerned with perceived interests of the nation.
   • 2013, Simon Jenkins, Gibraltar and the Falklands deny the logic of history (in The Guardian, 14 August 2013)

     Twenty-first century nation states will no longer tolerate even the mild humiliation of hosting the detritus of 18th- and 19th-century empires. Most European empires were born of the realpolitik of power, mostly the treaties of Utrecht (1713) and Paris (1763). The same realpolitik now ordains their dismantling. An early purpose of the United Nations was to bring this about.

Translations

Derived terms