*16 April 2022* By nature I am an idealist. As naïve as they come. I dream of a world quite different from the one we live in. I hanker after relationships between countries, as well as people, based on real love and unselfishness. I long for the interest of others to weigh as heavily on my heart, and my nation’s heart, as self-interest. Realpolitik is not my thing. I am simply not realistic. I cannot accept the compromises – of conscience as well as policy – which are the stuff of national and international policy. Everyone tells me that my idealism is endearing but without place in the modern world. I tell myself the same thing. I try to be more realistic. But I cannot get round one simple question. Where has all our realism got us? Realpolitik has presided over a steady drift towards a more dangerous, a more unjust, a more unhappy world. We cannot blame all that only on the dominance of the realists and pragmatists. But where have they shown any inkling that they have the capacity to move the world in a different direction? Lest I be accused of being all doom and gloom, I hasten to add that there have been many positive developments in the past 50 years. But, in general, these positive developments have been to the benefit of a few, while the many find their lot worsening. No, Realism has a lot to answer for. Could it be that idealism is the only realistic response to the situation we face?