Q. In international relations, ethical considerations are often subjugated to the strategic interests of nation-states. Discuss this from an ethical perspective.

Model Answer: 

International relations frequently witnesses Morgenthau’s Realpolitik overriding normative obligations, prioritizing national survival, sovereignty, and state interests over universal ethical duties.

Manifestations of Strategic Subjugation over Ethics

• Deontological Breaches: Sovereign security overrides non-aggression and human dignity, violating categorical moral duties (e.g., UN Charter Art. 2(4) violations in territorial incursions).
• Distributive Injustice: Mercantilist self-interest undermines global equity and the collective good (e.g., Vaccine nationalism; climate finance evasion by the Global North).
• Moral Double Standards: Strategic alignment causes selective human rights enforcement, prioritizing geopolitical leverage over universal moral consistency (e.g., instrumentalizing sanctions).
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Pathways Toward Ethical Realism

• Kantian Cosmopolitanism: Treating global citizens as ends in themselves rather than strategic means (e.g., India’s Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Vaccine Maitri).
• Enlightened Self-Interest: Recognizing that planetary crises require moral solidarity and ethical burden-sharing (e.g., CBDR-RC framework in climate ethics).
• Ethical Multilateralism: Strengthening rules-based frameworks and Just War (Jus ad bellum) principles to restrain unbridled unilateral power projection.

Sustainable national security is impossible without global moral order; statecraft must evolve from narrow, zero-sum Realpolitik toward an ethical, rules-based international trusteeship.