What do you think?
Rate this book
Political Community and the North Atlantic Area: International Organization in the Light of Historical Experience
- GenresPolitics
228 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 1969
About the author
Karl Wolfgang Deutsch
39 books11 followersKarl Wolfgang Deutsch was a Czech social and political scientist from a German-speaking family. His work focused on the study of war and peace, nationalism, co-operation and communication. He is also well known for his interest in introducing quantitative methods and formal system analysis and model-thinking into the field of political and social sciences, and is one of the best known social scientists of the 20th century.
Born in Prague on July 21, 1912 when the city was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Deutsch became a citizen of Czechoslovakia after World War I. His mother Maria Leopoldina Scharf Deutsch was a Social Democrat, and the first woman to be elected to the Czechoslovak parliament (1918) where she became known for her resistance to Nazism. His father Martin Morritz Deutsch owned an optical shop on Prague's Wenceslas Square, and was also active in the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Worker's Party. His uncle Julius Deutsch was an important political leader in the Social Democratic Party of Austria.
Karl studied Law at the German University at Prague, where he graduated in 1934. He discontinued further studies as his overt anti-Nazi stance caused opposition by pro-Nazi students. Karl married his wife Ruth Slonitz in 1936, and after spending two years in England, returned to Prague where due to his former Anti-Nazi activities, he could not return to the German University. He instead joined its Czech counterpart, the Charles University, where he obtained a law degree in international and canon law PhD in Political Sciences in 1938. That same year, which saw the Munich Agreement allowing German troops to enter the Sudetenland, he and his wife did not return from a trip to the United States. In 1939 Deutsch obtained a scholarship to carry out advanced studies at Harvard University where he received a second PhD in political science in 1951.
During World War II he worked for the Office of Strategic Services, and participated as a graduate student in the San Francisco conference that resulted in the creation of the United Nations in 1945. Deutsch taught at several universities; first at MIT from 1943 to 1956; then at Yale University until 1967; and again at Harvard until 1982. He served as Stanfield Professor of International Peace at Harvard, a position he held until his death.
Deutsch worked extensively on cybernetics, on the application of simulation and system dynamics models to the study of social, political, and economic problems, known as wicked problems. He built upon earlier efforts at world modeling such as those advanced and advocated by authors of the Club of Rome such as Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows, et al. (1972). He introduced new concepts such as security community to the literature.
He held several other prestigious positions; he was a member of the board of World Society Foundation in Zürich, Switzerland from 1984 onwards. He was also elected President of the American Political Science Association in 1969, of the International Political Science Association in 1976, and of the Society for General Systems Research in 1983. From 1977 to 1987, he was Director of the Social Science Research Center Berlin (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, WZB) in Berlin.
He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on November 1, 1992. He has two daughters, Mary D. Edsall, a writer (wife of Thomas Edsall), and Margaret D. Carroll, an art historian, and three grandchildren, Alexandra Edsall, Sophia Carroll, and Samuel Carroll.
Born in Prague on July 21, 1912 when the city was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Deutsch became a citizen of Czechoslovakia after World War I. His mother Maria Leopoldina Scharf Deutsch was a Social Democrat, and the first woman to be elected to the Czechoslovak parliament (1918) where she became known for her resistance to Nazism. His father Martin Morritz Deutsch owned an optical shop on Prague's Wenceslas Square, and was also active in the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Worker's Party. His uncle Julius Deutsch was an important political leader in the Social Democratic Party of Austria.
Karl studied Law at the German University at Prague, where he graduated in 1934. He discontinued further studies as his overt anti-Nazi stance caused opposition by pro-Nazi students. Karl married his wife Ruth Slonitz in 1936, and after spending two years in England, returned to Prague where due to his former Anti-Nazi activities, he could not return to the German University. He instead joined its Czech counterpart, the Charles University, where he obtained a law degree in international and canon law PhD in Political Sciences in 1938. That same year, which saw the Munich Agreement allowing German troops to enter the Sudetenland, he and his wife did not return from a trip to the United States. In 1939 Deutsch obtained a scholarship to carry out advanced studies at Harvard University where he received a second PhD in political science in 1951.
During World War II he worked for the Office of Strategic Services, and participated as a graduate student in the San Francisco conference that resulted in the creation of the United Nations in 1945. Deutsch taught at several universities; first at MIT from 1943 to 1956; then at Yale University until 1967; and again at Harvard until 1982. He served as Stanfield Professor of International Peace at Harvard, a position he held until his death.
Deutsch worked extensively on cybernetics, on the application of simulation and system dynamics models to the study of social, political, and economic problems, known as wicked problems. He built upon earlier efforts at world modeling such as those advanced and advocated by authors of the Club of Rome such as Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows, et al. (1972). He introduced new concepts such as security community to the literature.
He held several other prestigious positions; he was a member of the board of World Society Foundation in Zürich, Switzerland from 1984 onwards. He was also elected President of the American Political Science Association in 1969, of the International Political Science Association in 1976, and of the Society for General Systems Research in 1983. From 1977 to 1987, he was Director of the Social Science Research Center Berlin (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, WZB) in Berlin.
He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on November 1, 1992. He has two daughters, Mary D. Edsall, a writer (wife of Thomas Edsall), and Margaret D. Carroll, an art historian, and three grandchildren, Alexandra Edsall, Sophia Carroll, and Samuel Carroll.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 20, 2025
Political Community is one of the best works that I`ve read on NATO, European integration and how to build a new society. Is not about an alliance as such, its goal is to show how to achieve peace inside the North Atlantic region. The approach offered by the authors is learned, pragmatic and idealistic at the same time. I recommend the book to anyone interested in the history of integration and in issues of war and peace.
Political Community is the product of a research project, coordinated by Karl Deutsch. A security community is a social space where war is abolished. The book contains ten case studies of both integration and dismemberment processes. The units are medieval kingdoms and modern states, like England, United States, Switzerland or the Northern countries. There are two fundamental types of security communities: amalgamated (hierarchies) and pluralistic (independent units).
The main conclusion may surprise the reader. The pluralistic security communities have some advantages over the hierarchical ones. They are easier to achieve, and they are more enduring, according to the research lead by Karl Deutsch. They need only compatible values and a political sensitivity among its decision-makers to the needs of their partners. Political Community shows that amalgamation may also require a pluralistic stage.
The methodology is pretty good. A couple of times, the team coordinated by Karl Deutsch warns the reader against jumping to conclusions. Political Community contains a list of causes and a description of integration processes but also cautions against the abuses of analogy. It`s a good balance of positivism and normative or policy-oriented research, stressing the value of judgement in political decisions.
The conclusion of this research counters the typical arguments linking anarchy to war. It also shows that unit level variables are more important than systemic ones, even if the mature neorealist, who pressed both ideas, was still at its infancy. Political Community can be criticized for relying on case-studies, the lack of theory and the generous treatment of its units. Today, the research coordinated by Karl Deutsch shows that integration can be very flexible and durable, even in face of temporary setbacks.
Political Community is the product of a research project, coordinated by Karl Deutsch. A security community is a social space where war is abolished. The book contains ten case studies of both integration and dismemberment processes. The units are medieval kingdoms and modern states, like England, United States, Switzerland or the Northern countries. There are two fundamental types of security communities: amalgamated (hierarchies) and pluralistic (independent units).
The main conclusion may surprise the reader. The pluralistic security communities have some advantages over the hierarchical ones. They are easier to achieve, and they are more enduring, according to the research lead by Karl Deutsch. They need only compatible values and a political sensitivity among its decision-makers to the needs of their partners. Political Community shows that amalgamation may also require a pluralistic stage.
The methodology is pretty good. A couple of times, the team coordinated by Karl Deutsch warns the reader against jumping to conclusions. Political Community contains a list of causes and a description of integration processes but also cautions against the abuses of analogy. It`s a good balance of positivism and normative or policy-oriented research, stressing the value of judgement in political decisions.
The conclusion of this research counters the typical arguments linking anarchy to war. It also shows that unit level variables are more important than systemic ones, even if the mature neorealist, who pressed both ideas, was still at its infancy. Political Community can be criticized for relying on case-studies, the lack of theory and the generous treatment of its units. Today, the research coordinated by Karl Deutsch shows that integration can be very flexible and durable, even in face of temporary setbacks.
Displaying 1 of 1 review