Ethics in international relations

The first principle

States act for their own people, but the people on the other side of a border are just as human. Ethics in international relations is the effort to hold both truths at once, so that national interest is pursued without treating foreigners as if their lives did not count. The question is never whether interest matters, because it always does, but what limits interest must respect.

The core

• Realism holds that in a world without a common government, states must look after their own survival, so prudence matters more than morality. Thucydides gives this view to the Athenians in the Melian dialogue: "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must".
• Idealism holds that states can be bound by law, treaties and shared values, as Kant argued in Perpetual Peace (1795). The League of Nations and the United Nations (UN) grew out of this hope.
• National interest and humanity are not always opposed. A country that keeps its word, helps in disasters and respects the laws of war earns trust, and trust is itself a strategic asset.
• Rules exist. The UN Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against another state (Article 2(4)) and allows self defence (Article 51), and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 protect the wounded, prisoners and civilians.

Dimensions

• Going to war (jus ad bellum): the tradition asks whether there is a just cause, whether peaceful means have been exhausted, and whether the expected harm is proportionate to the aim.
• Fighting a war (jus in bello): even a just war can be fought unjustly. Civilians must be distinguished from soldiers, and an attack whose harm to civilians is excessive compared with its military gain is wrong.
• After a war: a fair peace, reconstruction and accountability for war crimes decide whether the war leaves a lasting wrong behind it.

In practice

• Refugees in India: India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, and has no national refugee law. It deals with refugees through executive policy and its general immigration law, while the courts have applied Article 21 to them. In NHRC v State of Arunachal Pradesh (1996), the Supreme Court held that the life and liberty of Chakma refugees had to be protected by the State.
• Evacuation as duty: during the Russia and Ukraine war in 2022, India evacuated its students through Operation Ganga, which shows that care for one's own citizens is the first ethical duty of a state abroad.
• Neutrality and voice: when a country abstains on a resolution in a war, it may be weighing old friendships, energy supplies and the safety of its citizens. Students should present both readings: principled strategic autonomy, or silence where a stand was owed.

Issues and way forward

• Interest overrides principle, because the costs of a principled stand fall on the state now while the benefits are shared and distant. A fix is to bind interest to law in advance, through treaties and multilateral forums that make good conduct the normal course.
• Civilians pay for wars, because modern weapons and urban battlefields blur the line between soldier and citizen. Humanitarian corridors, independent investigation of violations and strict adherence to the Geneva Conventions are the remedy.
• Refugees fall between states, because each state fears that generosity will attract more arrivals. A national asylum law with a clear procedure would balance security checks with humane treatment.
• The veto blocks action, because the five permanent members of the Security Council can stop resolutions that touch their interests. Reform of the Council, which India seeks, would make collective security less selective.

Common confusions

• Realism and cynicism. Realism says power must be taken seriously; it does not say anything goes. Classical realists such as Morgenthau valued prudence as the supreme virtue in politics.
• Jus ad bellum and jus in bello. The first judges the decision to fight, the second judges the way the fighting is done, and a war can pass one test while failing the other.
• Refugee and migrant. A refugee flees persecution and cannot safely return, while a migrant moves by choice, usually for work. Non refoulement protects the refugee.

For the exam

• Keyword bank: realism, idealism, national interest, common humanity, just war, jus ad bellum, jus in bello, distinction, proportionality, non refoulement, Geneva Conventions, strategic autonomy, Panchsheel, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
• Previous year questions: Practise the previous year questions on this topic →
• Introduction lines:
  • India's G20 presidency in 2023 took the theme "One Earth, One Family, One Future", drawn from the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
  • In NHRC v State of Arunachal Pradesh (1996), the Supreme Court held that even refugees who are not citizens are protected by Article 21.
• Conclusion lines:
  • National interest sets the goal of foreign policy, but humanity and law must set its limits.
  • A state that keeps its word and spares civilians gains a power that arms alone cannot buy, which is trust.