Page 33 - Navy Journal 219

Beyond the Bay ...

Realism on the other hand has originated in the writings of classical
thinkers such as Thucydides, Kautilya, Machiavelli and Hobbes. After the
second World War Hans J. Morgenthau is credited to establish realism as an
alternative to ‘idealism’. However, there are two important critiques of Realism:
An International Society critique and an Emancipatory critique mentioned the
consequence of IR in the context of Realism that it is “becoming obsolete as a
theoretical approach” and “irrelevant as a practical attitude to world politics”
(Jackson and Sørensen, pp 90-93). On the other hand, John Bew advocates a
return to Rochau’s “real” Realpolitik. He (Bew 2016) observes that “the law of
the strong” had not “suddenly evaporated just because it was unjust.” Here
Realpolitik becomes a very handy tool for identifying politics credibly in its
correct context. The main requirement is to have a framework to investigate
rising above bias. A framework that predicts the extent of political possibility of
the time, knows the influence of ideas, power of opinions and supremacy of
connections between political power and imagination with economics and the
chemistry of a society.
Shyam Saran (2017) believes India’s foreign policy as a “reasonably
potent weapon”. He posits, “whether Indian foreign policy should be based on
unalloyed ‘realpolitik’ bereft of any moral or ethical anchor or whether it should
aspire to a higher purpose, transcending in some way the essentially competitive
character of interstate relations, is a matter of debate.” Indian vision for the IOR
is claimed to preserve India’s‘organic unity while advancing cooperation’. India
wants to use their capabilities for the ‘collective well-being and the mutual
benefit’ of their maritime neighbours. Therefore, India envisages the IO ‘as an
engine for growth and prosperity’ in and beyond IOR. Thus, it is of utmost
importance to India ‘that these waters remain safe and secure.’

Map 1: Indian Ocean Space View

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