Morgenthau nd National Interest

“England has neither permanent friends nor permanent enemies; she has permanent interests”

~Lord Palmerston~
All countries, no matter they are big or small, need to build their foreign policy on the basis of national interest. This essay "Another Great Debate" undertakes an in depth analysis on the based on the theories developed by Hans J. Morgenthau. Morgenthau dedicated himself to the study of IR because in the wake of WWI and WW2.The article review two of the major pillars of Morgenthau’s political realism—the permanence of self-interest and the struggle for power and the inevitable nexus between moral principles and statecraft—and proceed to examine how they have shaped the contours and continue to influence the ongoing understanding of the major objectives of U.S. foreign policy. We should also reject the methodological reduction-ism that Morgenthau deplores in theory but applied to his own work by ascribing everything of significance in international relations to the national interest defined in terms of power. True, power is a critical and inescapable element in international politics, and the danger of war will always exist to some degree in the anarchic world within which states operate. What the historical record refutes is not the validity of these insights, but the untenable claim that structure and power alone suffice to explain international politics. Not all states or leaders behave alike. Nor do the constraints of the international system, the imperatives of power politics, or even regime type eliminate the often broad range of moral and practical choice that powerful statesmen of powerful states possess. Belief systems often have a significant affect on how such statesmen act internationally.