Introduction
Morgenthau’s Political Realism posits that international politics operates primarily based on national interest, suggesting that self-interested nation-states drive decision-making on the global stage. This is evident when he said- “The main sign-post that helps political realism to find its way through the landscape of international politics is the concept of interest defined in terms of power. This concept provides the link between reason trying to understand international politics and the facts to be understood.”[i] However, a contrasting viewpoint emerged during the 2021 Quad summit when Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the Quad is a force for global good, benefiting both the Indo-Pacific region and the world.[ii] This statement challenges Morgenthau’s principle by suggesting that nation-states can prioritize broader global interests over their own vested interests in international affairs.
The article aims to find a synthesis between Morgenthau’s principle of Political realism on the one hand and Quad acting as a force for global good working outside individual national interest and adopting a more collective or global interest in the international theatre. Further, in order to gauge whether Quad is indeed a force for global good, we need to understand what indeed is the idea of global good that Quad stands for and whose idea of good would gain more prominence in the international system. Quad’s global good can also be measured by taking the metrics of traditional and non-traditional notions of security.
Before delving into these intricacies it becomes important to understand the origins and the current face of Quad itself.
Origins
QUAD, a quadrilateral security dialogue between countries including India, Australia, USA and Japan was formulated in order to secure the Indo Pacific region from Chinese expansionist policies .The idea was first propagated by Japan’s Prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2007, however at the time Australia couldn’t agree to it due to the Chinese pressure.[iii] The pandemic gave an opportunity for the whole group to be formed and this was possible because Australia’s trust over China declined due to the mishandling of Covid 19 cases .Thus an erstwhile Comprehensive strategy partner for China, soon changed gears by following the path of QUAD.
One of the ways through which the Quad countries have shown solidarity is through the Malabar Exercises. Initially these exercises were conducted between India and the US which started in 1992, later Japan joined in 2015 followed by Australia in 2020. China sees this as a countermeasure to its expansionist policy of becoming a global force[iv]. Thus it can be seen that Quad is providing an alternative to the idea of global good as compared to China and in any democratic setting an alternative or opposition must be there to counter authoritarian tendencies in the international theatre.
Current lens
Another lens of seeing Quad is in terms of traditional and non- traditional notions of security. There are many policies of Quad which focus on the traditional notion of security (security maintained with the use of force, applying a sense of negative liberty) as seen in one of its policies in its recent summit held in 2022. That is the Indo Pacific Maritime Domain awareness, which helps in monitoring Indo-Pacific illegal activities, illegal fishing as well as keeping an eye on maritime militia[v]. The main threat on these waters is by Chinese Maritime Militia and as per US intelligence, China is using civilian vessels and not their own Navy ships to act as mafia groups so as to overrule United Nations Law of the Sea convention which prohibits the interference of navies of countries on these waters, thus using the deniability factor that these civilian vessels have to its advantage.
Further QUAD’s notion of non- traditional security (security maintained beyond the usage of force and applying a sense of positive liberty) can be seen when the QUAD members had decided to invest fifty billion dollars in the next five years towards various infrastructure projects in the region with key focus on areas such as – Health Care, Critical Technologies, Infrastructure and Climate Change schemes[vi]. Both of these current developments show Quad’s face for both traditional and non-traditional notions of security and is indeed aiming to become a force for global good by adopting a more inclusive approach and not merely considering state actors but also including ‘Global citizens’ as important stakeholders.
Conclusion
On paper, the Quad grouping has been formed to challenge and counter the growing influence of China in world affairs. Even though overtly it would seem that Quad is trying to serve a more self- interested fate however if we were to closely examine there are covert implications of countering China. This is a twofold, one by the formulation of Quad, attention has been given to actual global issues as we saw in the above examples and the coalition is also acting as giving humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the region and taking proactive measures to counter piracy.
On the other hand, by acting as an alternative to China, Quad is keeping the spirit of democracy alive by not letting China brew authoritarian tendencies and thus create a sense of balance of power which indeed makes it a force for global good in world politics.
Thus a kind of synthesis is being created between Morgenthau’s principle of Political realism and PM Modi’s idealistic connotations of calling Quad a force for global good. This is because there may be national interest based Quad policies on the one hand however on the other hand since the world is highly connected there are many global issues that are being tackled by groupings such as the Quad.
Author: Anushka Gaur, Research Intern, CS3, USI.
ENDNOTES
[i] “Morgenthau’s Realist Theory (6 Principles).” n.d. Your Article Library. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/international-politics/morgenthaus-realist-theory-6-principles/48472.
[ii] “Quad to act as a force for global good: PM Modi.” 2021. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/quad-to-act-as-a-force-for-global-good-modi/article36660779.ece.
[iii] Chaturvedi, Megha. 2022. “What is QUAD: Formation, objectives, principle, and significance.” India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/information/story/what-is-quad-formation-objectives-principle-and-significance-1920681-2022-03-04.
[iv] Kaushik, Krishn. 2021. “What is the Malabar Exercise?” The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/malabar-exercise-of-quad-nations-why-it-matters-to-india-7472058/.
[v] “The Quad’s new maritime initiative has potential to spur militarization of the Indo-Pacific.” 2022. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/09/quads-maritime-initiative-could-spur-militarization-of-indo-pacific.html.
[vi] Pubby, Manu. n.d. “Quad’s $50-billion, 5-year infra booster for Indo-Pacific.” The Economic Times. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/quads-50-billion-5-year-infra-booster-for-indo-pacific/articleshow/91776640.cms?from=mdr.