Hans Morgenthau's Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace is a book on political science published in 1948. The author has outlined six principles of political realism in this book. It is interesting to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi's actions and Indian state behaviour against Pakistan in view of these principles. The six principles are: 1) politics like society in general is governed by objective laws that have roots in human nature; 2) a statesman sees certain problems of foreign policy under certain circumstances; 3) key concept of interest defined as power is an objective category and is universally valid; 4) universal moral principles cannot be applied to actions of the state; 5) political realism refuses to identify the moral aspirations of a particular nation with the moral laws that govern the world; and 6) there is a profound difference of policymaking in different schools of thought.

I would like to start with the last principle. The nature of a man, the nature of society, and the nature of the politics all three combine to produce a typical school of thought and the consequential nature of the state behaviour which aims at the realisation of any evil or good. In this context, it is important to correctly understand the motives and ideological preferences of the man, PM Modi of India, who drives the process of policymaking. If, through his actions, he represents illiberalism, autocracy, nationalism, protectionism and territorial revisionism, then he represents the dark force of regional politics that seeks war and not peace.

To view the Indian state behaviour in light of the 5th principle of political realism is to........

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