Make up blog posted on behalf of Sana Navi : Another Great Debate

In ‘Another Great Debate’, Hans Morgenthau attempts to segregate morality and politics by focusing on the foreign policy of the United States and more specifically on the the illusion of pacifism projected to the American public by the government.

A realist assessment of foreign policy is impossible without the mention of notions such as self-interest, which in turn dictate the actions of states. Morgenthau is of the view that every political action is meant to either display or increase power though the means of achieving these goals may vary according to the prevailing international structure. Foreign aggression was far more acceptable and in fact was a vital cog in the medieval structure where empire building through outright conquering was the norm. However the manifestation of an aggressive foreign policy can no longer be considered as a viable option for a hegemon in the post World War era and hence the tactics used by the United States to maintain it’s position as hegemon have evolved. This evolution could be seen even in the Cold War era where the US used other states as proxies for their liberal democratic ideals against the Communist roots being planted by the Soviet Union.

The liberal democratic ideology preached by the United States continues to be at the core of the international system in modern times. With a neo liberal economic model to boot, the US has managed to fashion the global political arena to it’s own liking which can perhaps provide an explanation for why it is now capable of packaging self interested actions as humanitarian attempts to achieve peace. The invasion of Iraq for example could be presented to the American citizens as a necessary measure to rid the occupied country of the dictator who posed a risk to American national security, though the real motives behind this action could have been related to resource exploitation.