'The will to power exists, but it can be tamed and be guided by rationality and principles of moral duty.'…

Question

'The will to power exists, but it can be tamed and be guided by rationality and principles of moral duty.' Examine this statement in the context of international relations.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

The will to power is real in international relations, but reason and moral duty can tame it through law, interdependence and conscience, though imperfectly. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, the NPT and India's No First Use doctrine show power restrained by principle.

**Introduction**

Nietzsche saw the "will to power" as the basic drive of life, and realists such as Morgenthau read world politics as a struggle for power. The statement accepts this drive but denies it is destiny, echoing Kant's Perpetual Peace (1795).

**The Will to Power in World Politics**

1. **Realist reality**: Thucydides' Melian Dialogue held that "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must", as Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 showed.
2. **Force without sanction**: The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 went ahead without explicit Security Council authorisation.
3. **Privileged institutions**: The P5 veto lets power shield itself, paralysing the Council over Syria and Ukraine.

**How Reason and Moral Duty Tame It**

SKETCH: forcefield | Taming the Will to Power
center: Rule-based order
driving: UN Charter, Interdependence, Public conscience
restraining: P5 veto, Arms lobbies, Hyper-nationalism

1. **Rational self-restraint**: Fear of mutual destruction produced the NPT (1968) and India's No First Use nuclear doctrine (2003).
2. **Duty written into law**: Article 2(4) of the UN Charter bans the use of force, and the Geneva Conventions (1949) bind armies even in war.
3. **Power as service**: India's Panchsheel (1954) and Vaccine Maitri (2021) show strength used as **Lokasangraha**, action for the common good.
4. **Limits of the taming**: The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, announced in 2017 and again in 2025, shows that interest can reverse commitments made by reason.

**Conclusion**

The statement holds largely true: the will to power cannot be abolished, but law, interdependence and conscience have repeatedly bent it toward restraint. India's G20 theme of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (2023) offers the compass that turns power into responsibility.

'The will to power exists, but it can be tamed and be guided by rationality and principles of moral duty.' Examine this statement in the context of international relations.

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