Meaning of raison d'etat | Babel Free

Definitions

A state interest, especially when invoked as politically superior to moral or even legal considerations.

Equivalents

Examples

“The law as created by the Supreme Court has been nay-saying in fact and in effect, stating in specific instances a series of "thou shalt nots." Not entirely, to be sure, as the cases illustrating raison d'état in American constitutional law tend to indicate, but enough to make the generalization valid.”

“‘The western alliance is part of Germany's raison d'état,’ he declared. ‘We've got to take responsibility.[…]’”

“Nor did the end of the Cold War put an end to the bipartisan tendency toward placing raison d'etat above the standards of international law and morality that America officially aims to uphold.”

“These epochal shifts contributed to lend specificity to the substantive rationality of the state — raison d'etat.”

CEFR level