Those were easier times. Despite my relative lack of experience and the probationary phase of my job, I had no difficulty scheduling an interview. The year was 1999. The Kargil war had just concluded, and Islamabad and Washington were quite visibly drifting apart. The rumour had it that President Clinton was soon to visit South Asia. A precursor to that visit was the arrival of several American intellectuals and influencers to gauge the temperature. Professor Stephen P Cohen was one of them. I had just booked his interview.

When he arrived, and we sat down for the televised interview, a tug-of-war began. He wanted to convince this rookie of the growing chasm between the two countries. If I had a nickel every time I heard the sentence, "there are no permanent friends in the international system, only permanent interests", I would have been a wealthy man. Exhausted by this smooth operator's stalling, I blurted out the next question: "How relevant is morality in the international system?" He smiled. His reply was measured, but encouraging. He did not want to dismiss the notion outright. So, he offered two examples of the relevance of morality in long-term relationships: China-Pakistan friendship and the US-Israel relationship. The former does not need any qualification. I have never quite understood the latter beyond the lobbying chokehold that Israel has on America.

Experiences like these have helped shape my worldview. What was said and what was left unsaid all matter. In my humble opinion, assigning a set of policy choices to national interest is almost as naïve as believing that morality has ever shaped the international order. These policy choices are defined by a........

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