How to Use realpolitik in a Sentence

realpolitik

noun
  • But some of the fence-sitting is down to hard-nosed realpolitik.
    Monica Mark, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Apr. 2022
  • Nor was this a story limited to the realpolitik of the elite.
    Jerry Brotton, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2017
  • Those values, for Gordis, fail to address the realpolitik needs of Israel.
    Ethan Bronner, The New York Review of Books, 12 Mar. 2020
  • But that kind of nihilistic realpolitik is no match for the emotions such agents traffic in.
    Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic, 14 Aug. 2019
  • Experts fear that the realpolitik of keeping the lights on means there’s less chance than ever of Beijing quitting coal in time.
    NBC News, 28 Oct. 2021
  • Given these views, Russia’s ground rules for Ukraine—the epitome of realpolitik—were plain.
    Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 3 May 2023
  • Machiavellian realpolitik can get you far in life, but only so far.
    Vance Serchuk, National Review, 12 Sep. 2019
  • And the presidents of the past have always tried to figure out the balance between the realpolitik and our strategic interest.
    Eric Johnson, Recode, 19 Oct. 2018
  • Moderates should make the affirmative case for what the far left has been writing off as wishy-washy realpolitik.
    Catherine Rampell, The Denver Post, 20 Oct. 2019
  • Agnes is a great believer in realpolitik, and how the world is, just as Mrs. Astor, in real life, understood that these new rich people had to be dealt with.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 22 Mar. 2022
  • Forget the allusion to myth — the Russian position on Ukraine is mired in realpolitik.
    Washington Post, 7 Dec. 2021
  • On the basis of realpolitik alone, freezing out Russia or, at the very least, postponing the naval exercises, may have seemed like a smarter choice.
    David McKenzie, CNN, 19 Feb. 2023
  • No doubt, Trump and his supporters would like to frame this mindset as some sort of realpolitik, a grim but realistic acceptance of how the world works.
    Kevin Baker, Harper's Magazine, 27 Apr. 2020
  • The best example of Europe’s new taste for realpolitik was the deal on migration with Mr Erdogan.
    The Economist, 25 July 2019
  • Sansa freed herself from a bunch of male abusers, got schooled in realpolitik and became an able and sure-handed leader, disabused of the naïve courtly fantasies that used to seduce her.
    Anna Silman, The Cut, 28 Aug. 2017
  • There is an irony in Google’s attempt to strengthen its business by bending toward realpolitik.
    Christopher Mims, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2018
  • In the world of realpolitik, some powers may value their ties with Burma more than those with Bangladesh and choose to look aside as the Burmese government carries out crimes against humanity.
    Kazi Nabil Ahmed, WSJ, 21 Sep. 2017
  • That statecraft, however, was more than just a realpolitik power play.
    Gordon G. Chang, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2017
  • And this evening you’ve spoken to us about a world that is more and more dominated by realpolitik, that the idea that Western values had permanently triumphed was false.
    The Economist, 7 Nov. 2019
  • During this period, the party demonstrated a skill for realpolitik that Debs and Thomas were incapable of.
    Jeet Heer, New Republic, 18 Oct. 2017
  • Whatever the term, the implication is often the same: each side rejects realpolitik and fights on principle.
    Christopher Blattman, Foreign Affairs, 29 Nov. 2022
  • Both Petraeus and Crocker seemed caught by surprise by this realpolitik reckoning, and Obama received kudos in the media for his smarts.
    Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2018
  • Many in both Riyadh and Jerusalem seemed inclined to view Trump as stronger that Obama, and to welcome a realpolitik devoid of pesky humanitarian concerns.
    Washington Post, 23 May 2017
  • Meanwhile, those who had hoped to drive out Assad see a bleak realpolitik playing out among countries that the opposition counted as backers.
    Nabih Bulos, chicagotribune.com, 2 Sep. 2017
  • Tyrion Lannister, perhaps the fan favorite, is a master of realpolitik who’s made more than his share of compromises to survive.
    David French, National Review, 16 July 2017
  • Henry Kissinger, the ancient guru of realpolitik, has joined Macron in urging Ukrainian concessions.
    William Falk, The Week, 11 June 2022
  • But polls show that Orbán’s realpolitik and cautious approach to Ukraine are winning him voters who prize stability.
    John Fund, National Review, 29 Mar. 2022
  • As the afterglow of the inaugural shift fades, the realpolitik of domestic and diplomatic pressures has already begun to reemerge.
    Daniel Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2021
  • Father and son represented one family, but the elder Assad was more attuned to the real world and realpolitik, according to U.S. envoys who knew him.
    Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2017
  • There are lots of reasons for the new Greek realpolitik, besides learning from the vulnerability of its past dependencies.
    Victor Davis Hanson, The Mercury News, 6 June 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'realpolitik.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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