Prof. Schlevogt's Compass No. 46: Dirty work by proxy

March 13, 2026

TL;DR

Power without restraint is defined as tyranny, with the war on Iran presented as recent evidence.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's statements on the war against Iran are scrutinized for their ethical and rhetorical implications.
Aristotle's concept of practical wisdom (phronesis) is used to critique the simplification of complex geopolitical realities and the justification of war.
Just war doctrine, as espoused by St. Thomas Aquinas, is invoked to condemn the notion that the ends justify the means and the concept of collective guilt.
Immanuel Kant's ethical universalization principle is applied to show that a world where governments eliminate adversaries through allied action would lead to perpetual war.
Ethical traditions across various civilizations, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Jewish thought, and Islamic ethics, emphasize restraint and moral limits on the use of violence.
The article posits that unchecked power, especially when used in proxy wars, corrupts wielders and leads to tyranny, forfeiting legitimacy and ultimately consuming the order it purports to defend.
The current geopolitical approach, particularly in the transatlantic liberal order, is seen as a moral corruption and a failure of Western civilization.

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