Based on his new book, The Atlantic Realists: Empire and International Political Thought Between Germany and the United States, Specter offers an overview of his arguments about the tradition known as realism in international relations theory and foreign policy. Realists sometimes trace their origins to precursors in ancient Greece  or early modern Europe. At other times, they emphasize how realists’ sense of the weaknesses of international institutions and norms emerged from the fateful collapse of the League of Nations in the face of fascist powers in the 1930s and ‘40s. But is realism primarily a response to mid-20th century traumas of liberalism? Specter argues that the realist sensibility in international affairs emerged far earlier—in the 1880s and 90s, in a very different context: inter—imperial competition on a global scale for colonies and resources. Through reconstruction of a century-long dialogue between German and US statesmen and intellectuals about the nature of power and space in international affairs, Specter argues that contemporary realism owes a greater debt to imperial ideologies than has been recognized. Some versions of contemporary realism reiterate the naturalization of Great Power privilege that has characterized  the European-dominated world system since the mid-19th century. While many realists today present themselves as foes of American empire, or at least restrainers of its excesses, Specter argues that realists must come to terms with the contexts—imperial, transatlantic, and Eurocentric—that burden realism today. He draws the lesson that the emerging metanarrative of the 21st century—the so-called “return of great power competition” warrants skepticism, and offers an unnecessarily fatalistic vision of global politics.