Botero accused Machiavelli of having a reason of state based on lack of conscience. Whether you accept Botero's judgment or not, he has pointed out the central problem with the concept: It is extremely difficult to separate reason of state from pure self-interest, and the questionable actions that promote the health of the state from those that promote the personal ambitions of the ruler. Because of this, reason of state has become associated with tyranny, and Machiavelli's brand in particular has been seen as a justification of absolutism and authoritarianism. Some critics have tried to defend Machiavelli by pointing out that The Prince is not a discourse on morality, but a purely technical, analytical study of political power. For this reason, Machiavelli is often described as the first true political scientist, someone who presented an impartial observation of politics as they truly are, rather than as theory dictated they should be. In doing so, he can be seen in the same light as Renaissance scientists like Galileo, who discarded traditional explanations of phenomena which were not consistent with their empirical observations of the workings of nature. In The Prince, the concept of the state has become autonomous and self-contained. Divorced from traditional Western concepts of Christian morality, it becomes an end unto itself, carrying along its own independent standard of behavior.
Reason of state fell out of fashion as a political philosophy by the end of the 17th century, but reappeared in the mid-19th century as realpolitik, a term often applied to the policies of German chancellor Otto von Bismarck. The dictionary defines realpolitik as "foreign policy determined by expediency rather than ethics or world opinion; power politics." The term is often translated as "practical politics," or politics that accomplish the goals of the state in the real world, rather than a world based on theory or idealism. One of the assumptions of realpolitik (or political Realism) is that all states act to maximize, or at least to preserve, their own power. Therefore, all international relations are based on a struggle for power. The opposing concept is Idealism, which assumes that different states have a basic harmony of interests. It is easy to see Machiavelli's influence on Realism, remembering his insistence that he would discuss things as they really are, as well as his strategic analysis of the best ways to acquire and keep power.
