Editing Arthur de Gobineau (section)

===On international politics===
Gobineau's writings on international politics were generally as negative as his writings on France. He depicted [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] as a nation motivated entirely by hatred and greed and the extent of the [[British Empire]] around the globe as a source of regret.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=33}} Gobineau often attacked King Louis-Phillipe for his pro-British foreign policy, writing that he had "humiliated" France by allowing the British Empire to become the world's dominant power.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|pp=20–21}} However, reports on the poor economic state of [[History of Ireland (1801–1923)|Ireland]] were a source of satisfaction for Gobineau as he asserted: "It is Ireland which is pushing England into the abyss of revolution".{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=33}}

According to Gobineau, the growing power and aggressiveness of [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]] were a cause for concern. He regarded the disastrous [[1842 retreat from Kabul|retreat from Kabul]] by the British during the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] with [[Emirate of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] as a sign Russia would be the dominant power in Asia, writing: "England, an aging nation, is defending its livelihood and its existence. Russia, a youthful nation, is following its path towards the power that it must surely gain ... The empire of the Tsars is today the power which seems to have the greatest future ... The Russian people are marching steadfastly towards a goal that is indeed known but still not completely defined".{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=34}} Gobineau regarded Russia as an Asian power and felt the inevitable triumph of Russia was a triumph of Asia over Europe.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=34}}

He had mixed feelings about the German states, praising [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] as a conservative society dominated by the ''[[Junker (Prussia)|Junkers]]''. But he worried increasing economic growth promoted by the ''[[Zollverein]]'' (the German Customs Union) was making the Prussian middle-class more powerful.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|pp=24–26}} Gobineau was critical of the [[Austrian Empire]], writing that the [[House of Habsburg]] ruled over a mixed population of ethnic Germans, Magyars, Italians, Slavic peoples, etc., and it was inevitable such a multi-ethnic society would go into decline, while the "purely German" Prussia was destined to unify [[Germany]].{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=24}}

Gobineau was also pessimistic about [[Italy]], writing: "Shortly after the ''[[condottieri]]'' disappeared everything that had lived and flourished with them went too; wealth, gallantry, art and liberty, there remained nothing but a fertile land and an incomparable sky".{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=42}} Gobineau denounced [[Spain]] for rejecting "a firm and natural authority, a power rooted in national liberty", predicting that without order imposed by an absolute monarchy, she was destined to sink into a state of perpetual revolution.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=37}} He was dismissive of [[Latin America]], writing with references to the [[Spanish American wars of independence|wars of independence]]: "The destruction of their agriculture, trade and finances, the inevitable consequence of long civil disorder, did not at all seem to them a price too high to pay for what they had in view. And yet who would want to claim that the half-barbarous inhabitants of [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]] or the [[Algarve]] or the ''[[gaucho]]s'' on the [[Río de la Plata|River Plate]] really deserve to sit as supreme legislators, in the places which they have contested against their masters with such pleasure and energy".{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|pp=37–38}}

About the United States, Gobineau wrote: "The only greatness is that of wealth, and as everyone can acquire this, its ownership is independent of any of the qualities reserved to superior natures".{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=38}} Gobineau wrote the United States lacked an aristocracy, with no sense of ''noblesse oblige'' ("nobility obligates") as existed in Europe. The American poor suffered worse than the European poor, causing the United States to be a violent society, where greed and materialism were the only values that counted.{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=39}} In general Gobineau was hostile towards people in the Americas, writing that who in the [[Old World]] does not know "that the [[New World]] knows nothing of kings, princes and nobles?-that on those semi-virgin lands, in human societies born yesterday and scarcely yet consolidated, no one has the right or the power to call himself any greater than the very least of its citizens?"{{sfn|Biddiss|1970|p=38}}