Morality and the national interest: towards a ‘moral realist’ research agenda

Abstract

This article engages with recent scholarship on role of morality in classical realist conceptions of the national interest. It argues that for analytical purposes morality can be linked to notions of power, rather than being explicitly or solely normative. This stems from a re-examination of conversations between classical realists about absoluteness, where morality is treated as a categorical imperative; and about consequences, or the understanding that policy can have both moral and material outcomes. I then conduct a focused analysis of three common strands in the work of Morgenthau, Niebuhr and Kennan that facilitate the development of what might be termed a ‘moral realist’ framework. In doing so, I address the expectations, modes and results of foreign policy choices. This incorporates expectations of reciprocity in state relations, the importance of rational choice and the outcomes of ‘moral’ foreign policy choices. I conclude that moral realism shows some promise as an evaluative tool, and is worthy of further development.