Andrew – I’m not deeply invested in defending or touting PW, I just thought it was an interesting and topical quote for the day. However, I do take some exception to your view of realpolitik:

In matters of foreign policy, a government’s obligation is to pursue the national interest. Nothing more. If pursuing that national interest happens to be the “moral” thing to do (and quite who decides what is moral in this context is an interesting question), it’s a happy coincidence, nothing more.

While I could and would certainly argue that this is wrong morally, I think it’s wrong historically and, perhaps therefore, practically. It should go without saying that whatever governments ought to do, the fact is they don’t do what they “ought.” Sometimes their actions can simply be chalked-up to a poor reading of what their national interest is, but sometimes nations act on issues of honor, faith and decency. States with democratic and dictatorial governments alike often find that the people have a more romantic understanding of the national interest than do the people who glorify realpolitk — and the romantics often win.

More to the point, almost any action can be defended in terms of national interest. Some defenses are better than others, but the idea that the folks we call “realists” are the only ones concerned with our national interest just doesn’t fly. Every idealist I know of musters arguments about how it’s in our interest to do this or that morally right thing. And, quite often, the idealists are right.