History Main / Realpolitik

* ''Film/{{Downfall}}'': After failing to convince Hitler to negotiate with the Allies, [[StateSec Heinrich Himmler]] unilaterally reaches out to the British Army to offer his surrender. He seems to be operating under the assumption that the Allies would still prefer propping up the Nazi regime so they could use Germany as a counterweight to the communist Soviets. {{Subverted|Trope}} because [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Himmler Cannot Comprehend Good]] -- despite the rest of the Allies having ideological differences with the Soviets (and recognizing that conflict with the Soviet Union is more or less inevitable after the war), nobody with a normal moral code would consider siding with the Nazis for a second. This is especially true as the war is nearly over and there is ample evidence for [[FinalSolution Nazi atrocities]] all across Europe.[[note]]which is kinda of an odd thing to portray given that massive numbers of high ranking officers and scientists were actually pardoned and immediately put to work in high places like NATO and NASA after the war.[[/note]]

[[AC:"Realpolitik" is one word. If you were redirected to here and it says "Real Politik" or something similar, please change it on the page you were linked from. Thank you.]]

[[AC:"Realpolitik" is one word. If you were redirected to here and it says "Real Politik" or something similar, please change it on the original page you linked from. Thank you.]]

-->-- '''Senator UsefulNotes/HarryTruman''', June 1941 [[note]] printed in [=McCullough=], David, ''Truman'' (New York, 1992) p. 262 [[/note]]

If you ask a diplomat [[BelievingTheirOwnLies who is not an ideologue]] exactly why their country is behaving in a ruthless or manipulative manner, if you can blast your way through all the skillful deflections and rhetoric, they will usually respond with this argument: "We're protecting our interests. Every other country is doing it, and we'd be foolish not to do so too. MyCountryRightOrWrong."

This line of [[TheCynic cynical]] philosophy is essentially NiceGuysFinishLast among states, and has been around since two groups of people got together and decided that there were issues which could only be resolved by one side getting what they wanted at the expense of the other. If you ask TheEmpire "Why are you taking over our country?", they will respond "To make sure the other empire doesn't first."

Proponents of this way of thinking would say that there are a lot of big, nasty states committing {{Gambit Pileup}}s against each other out there, and that if you try being nice, your rivals will simply exploit this, so you must always further your interests where you can, as no one else will. Besides, if you try to "help", you could be accused of interfering with the business of other countries to further your own influence. Critics would, of course, point out that it is this kind of thinking which perpetuates ChronicBackstabbingDisorder among nations, and that it is essentially "MightMakesRight" as a political philosophy.

Compare HobbesWasRight, WellIntentionedExtremist, TheEmpire, MyCountryRightOrWrong, GambitPileup and EnlightenedSelfInterest, where countries act to ''benefit'' each other in order to advance their own interests. Contrast MachiavelliWasWrong, as well as PersonalHateBeforeCommonGoals, in which enemies can't get passed their hatred to pursue a common interest. {{Proxy War}}s are a specific execution of realpolitik.

* ''Film/{{Downfall}}'': After failing to convince Hitler to negotiate with the Allies, [[StateSec Heinrich Himmler]] unilaterally reaches out to the British Army to offer his surrender. He seems to be operating under the assumption that the Allies would still prefer propping up the Nazi regime so they could use Germany as a counterweight to the communist Soviets. {{Subverted|Trope}} because [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Himmler Cannot Comprehend Good]] -- despite the rest of the Allies having ideological differences with the Soviets (and recognizing that conflict with the Soviet Union is more or less inevitable after the war), nobody with a normal moral code would consider siding with the Nazis for a second. This is especially true as the war is nearly over and there is ample evidence for [[FinalSolution Nazi atrocities]] all across Europe.[[note]]wich is kinda of an odd thing to portray given that massive numbers of high ranking officers and scientists to be pardoned and immediately put to work in high places within NATO or NASA just as the war is over.[[/note]]

* Not well-followed by Lord Regent Burrows in ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}''. The Empire of the Isles wanes in power under his rule because his decision making is based mostly on his severely neurotic need for order, rather than on making decisions that will strengthen the country. This is largely his motivation for staging the coup that gets him into power in the first place. He later blames his ineffectiveness on the inability of everyone else to do as they're told.

* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/JustCause 1'' and ''2'', and comes to a head in ''VideoGame/JustCause3''. The protagonist, Rico Rodriguez, is a "dictator removal specialist" working for [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction The Agency]], which is basically a parody of the CIA that destabilizes countries mainly through [[OutsideRide car-surfing]] and StuffBlowingUp. In the first game, Rico deposes a bloodthirsty nuclear-armed dictator by helping mostly-decent rebels as well as a not-so-decent drug cartel. In the second game, he again deposes a bloodthirsty nuclear-armed dictator, but the three factions he helps are [[TheMafia the local crime syndicate]], hypocritical {{Dirty Communist|s}} rebels, and ultra-nationalist thugs. And in the third game, The Agency outright refuses to let Rico go to his homeland and depose yet another bloodthirsty nuclear-armed dictator, because he possesses a very powerful new type of {{Unobtanium}}, and that makes him The Agency's best goddamn friend -- prompting Rico to strike out on his own and work with the local rebels to free his homeland.

** This is especially the case when playing multiplayer with real people, since wars in Paradox's games tend to heavily favour those who mobilize their troops first. And due to the excessive costs of having your troops at full maintenance during peacetime you'll find most people having minimal maintenance during peacetime. Thus he who mobilizes and attacks first gets the upper hand, by gaining several victories before the opposing side gets to a comparable level of mobilization. Due to this multiplayer games often devolve into people legitimizing their declarations of war by saying [[{{DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs}} "We're only attacking you so as not to have our nation wiped out in case you decided to attack us..."]]

* In ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', "The Room Where it Happens" is an ode to political scheming and backroom deals. And Burr wants in on it.

Compare HobbesWasRight, WellIntentionedExtremist, TheEmpire, MyCountryRightOrWrong, GambitPileup and PersonalHateBeforeCommonGoals. Contrast MachiavelliWasWrong, as well as EnlightenedSelfInterest, where countries act to ''benefit'' each other in order to advance their own interests. {{Proxy War}}s are a specific execution of realpolitik.

* You can easily fall into this way of thinking in games developed by Creator/ParadoxInteractive, most all of which have you play as a single nation through a turbulent part of history.

[[caption-width-right:300:The [[UsefulNotes/MaoZedong Communist revolutionary]], shaking hands with a [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon life-long commie hater]]? Thank this trope.]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* [[SinisterMinister Cardinal Moldeen Ogus Gyunei]] from ''LightNovel/DancesWithTheDragons'' is the mastermind behind the series events. [[WellIntentionedExtremist All of it for the sake of]] ''[[WellIntentionedExtremist preventing]]'' [[WellIntentionedExtremist the disastrous Holy War from occurring by uniting the Alshok Territory with the Seven-Cities Alliance and to create a prosperous world]].
* In ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'' the four supernations were created based on a core ideology, but despite this they make concessions in order to avoid open war with one another. A number of antagonists are extremists who refuse to accept this trope and want to stay true to the ideology, no matter the cost.
* This crops up occasionally regarding [[ChessMotif Ratings Games]] in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD''. Rias mentions early on that since [[StarterVillain Riser]] can regenerate from any attack legal in the Games, he functionally can't lose; however, there are still losses on his record where he threw the match out of respect for a greater house being his opponent. Much later, Issei[[spoiler:'s own peerage with a couple of loaner pieces]] win the first match of a TournamentArc by using [[CombatPragmatist dirty tricks]] to distract the enemy ace, nuking the entire field once to remove all cover, then doing it a second time to take out the exposed enemy. [[CoolBigSis Grayfia]] has to take Issei aside and explain that yes, according to the rules he won. But it's boring to watch and bad sportsmanship, so more performances like that aren't going to endear him to the other Kings.
[[/folder]]

This line of [[TheCynic cynical]] philosophy is essentially NiceGuysFinishLast among states, and has been around since two groups of people got together and decided that there were issues which could only be resolved by one side getting what they wanted at the expense of the other. If you ask TheEmpire, "Why are you taking over our country?" they will respond, "To make sure the other empire doesn't first."

Proponents of this way of thinking would say that there are a lot of big, nasty states committing {{Gambit Pileup}}s against each other out there, and that if you try being nice, your rivals will simply exploit this, so you must always further your interests where you can as no one else will. Besides, if you try to "help", you could be accused of interfering with the business of other countries to further your own influence. Critics would, of course, point out that it is this kind of thinking which perpetuates ChronicBackstabbingDisorder among nations, and that it is essentially "MightMakesRight" as a political philosophy.

If you ask a diplomat [[BelievingTheirOwnLies who is not an ideologue]] exactly why their country is behaving in a ruthless or manipulative manner, if you can blast your way through all the skillful deflections and rhetoric, they will usually respond with this argument: "We're protecting our interests. It is what every other country is doing, and we'd be foolish not to do so too. MyCountryRightOrWrong."

If you ask a diplomat [[BelievingTheirOwnLies who is not an ideologue]] exactly why their country is behaving in a ruthless or manipulative manner they will usually, if you can blast your way through all the skillful deflections and rhetoric, respond with this argument: "We're protecting our interests. It is what every other country is doing, and we'd be foolish not to do so too. MyCountryRightOrWrong."

!!Examples:

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* This trope is prevalent in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', with the colossal GambitPileup. Nick Fury's goal of protecting humanity, for instance, is noble and he's unquestionably on the side of the good guys, he's willing to use some very shady means to bring it about, with much of the story being a chess match between him and Lucius Malfoy. And that is but the tip of the iceberg.
** Fury's protégé, Director Peter Wisdom of [=MI13=], is an even worse offender, having almost none of his teacher's scruples and being a textbook example of TheUnfettered. He takes advantage of Parliament's fears over the current global situation in order to amass resources and power at a rate that frightens the rest of British Intelligence, uses blackmail and bribery to secure the aid of superpowered individuals, and is working to control, or outright supplant altogether, the currently crippled Ministry of Magic as Britain's magic response organization. He explains that he genuinely does love his country, and that [[MyCountryRightOrWrong quite simply, there is nothing he will not do to preserve it]].
** Doctor Strange, meanwhile, plays both of the above, and just about everyone else like a harp, even when they ''know'' he's manipulating them. How? Two reasons. First, they know that he never lies. This is not the same as being honest, but it's an important baseline. Second, the consequences of ''not'' doing what he advises are usually a great deal worse, because he is working for the preservation of humanity. This means that everyone winds up, reluctantly, marching to Strange's fife.
* In ''Fanfic/EventHorizonStormOfMagic'', this is [[MegaCorp The Company™'s]] M.O. through and through, often resorting to underhanded tactics to get what they want. But they are also pragmatic and otherwise pretty decent in their conduct, at least compared to the ''other'', [[EvilVersusOblivion considerably more outright genocidal villains in the setting]]...
* ''Fanfic/SummerCrowns'' has the alliances that the Dragonhunt forges with the Tattered Prince and Salladhor Saan against the Free Cities, despite most of the former's leadership not caring for either of them.
** Braavos allying with Lys, despite historically being opposed to all the Free Cities which practice and support slavery.
** The newborn Kingdom of Summer allowing the Faith to establish septs in their territories with tax exemptions and the right to raise [[ChurchMilitant their own soldiers]] (albeit on a limited basis). All done to provide further aid to their new subjects, as well as a way of drawing more men from Westeros in a way that [[LoopholeAbuse gets around]] [[spoiler: King Stannis']] prohibition on the Dragonhunt recruiting new forces.
* ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'':
** Despite finding the people of Troyius repulsive, the Klingons still provide them with military and technological aid to counter [[TheAlliance TeTO's]] alliance with the neighboring world of Elas, as this gives them a foothold in the system.
** The Quarians' reconciliation with the Geth is purely to give them better standing against the Five Galaxies.
** [[spoiler: After [[MilitaryCoup crowning herself]] Empress, Daena T'Drak has the new Asari Empire join the Pact of the Raptor alongside their old enemies the Romulans, noting that it's the best way to restore their species' prestige.]]
** When Blackfire breaks her alliance with the Romulans and brings Tamaran into [=TeTO=], [=TeTO=] looks the other way regarding the Romulan-backed coup which brought her into power in the first place due to preparing for the Reaper War and not having the time or resources to waste on removing her from power. After the war, they begrudgingly let her stay on as Queen (albeit with a transition to constitutional monarchy instead of absolute monarchy) since any other course of action would trigger a civil war which [=TeTO=] would get bogged down in.
** During the Revenant Crisis, when [=TeTO=] is aiding the Ildrian Empire in fighting the rouge Decepticons and Klikiss robots, the Pact of the Raptor also gets involved. Officially, this is due to viewing the machines as a mutual threat to all organic life, like the Reapers before them. In truth, however, they're trying to win the Ildrians over towards the idea of joining them instead of [=TeTO=], thus increasing their bloc's power and resources.
** When Rimillia is discovered, Captain Georgiou offers to bring them into [=TeTO=] to help them terraform their hostile ecosystem and develop their primitive FTL technology to expand out of their system. In exchange, she admits, [=TeTO=] would get access to Rimillia's rich mineral resources and strategic location.
** The Shield Alliance doesn't hesitate to take advantage of the genetic disorder plaguing the Valakians, playing up their own knowledge of genetic engineering as a cure and ignoring the potential dangers of it, to convince them to join their bloc instead of [=TeTO=].
** The Pact of the Raptor spreads propaganda of the Harvesters' and Vinn's past ways in order to besmirch the Shield Alliance's reputation and convince the Deltan Union to join them instead (they try to do the same to [=TeTO=], but they have fewer skeletons in their closets).
** The Romulans back the Duras rebels in the Praxis War, as they're more friendly to the Pact of the Raptor than the [=TeTO=]-aligned Azetbur government.
** During the second Klingon civil war, [=TeTO=] can't directly intervene for political legal reasons, but still unofficially supply Azetbur's forces via the [[NGOSuperpower Conspiracy of Light]] (who are technically neutral), as the potential threat of reactionary forces regaining control of the Empire is too great to ignore.
** [=TeTO=] reluctantly agrees to let the Pact of the Raptor keep [[WeaponOfMassDestruction Vorl-tak]] technology when they justify it as a counter to [=TeTO's=] vast number of superhumans. This then leads to a treaty between them and the Shield Alliance to share all new technologies in order to keep any one bloc from gaining an advantage over the others.
** The Pact of the Raptor and Shield Alliance stay neutral in [=TeTO's=] war with the Goa'uld so that they can reap the benefits (per the aforementioned treaty) without any risk on their parts.
** The Romulan government and its partners in the Pact reject the [[Series/StarTrekPicard Zhat Vash's]] fear and hate of digital lifeforms, seeing the latter as potentially too good an asset to throw away. Because of this, and to maintain good relations with [=TeTO=], they officially disavow the Zhat Vash after their AssassinationAttempt on Hanka Kamiya and her Franchise/{{Digimon}} partner.
** The rest of the Shield Alliance is morally disgusted by the Bajorans' oppression of Cardassian colonists in the worlds Cardassia ceded them after the Praxis War, but unable to do anything about it because the Alliance's charter prevents intervention in a member polity's internal affairs. So to circumvent this, they coordinate with the Pact and [=TeTO=] to funnel weapons via the Conspiracy to a Cardassian resistance movement on the occupied worlds.
* One of the central pillars of ''Fanfic/OfSheepAndBattleChicken'' is this trope. It is the driving force behind of many Council's actions, as well as the main theme of the story's take on the various galactic governments; anything is permissible to a group so long as it gets results.
* ''Fanfic/TheFightWeChose'' takes place during the beginning of the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar, but with the events of ''Literature/{{Gate}}'' opening in the US. Naturally you can't have a Cold-War-centric story without some political intrigue.
** The US pulls out of Vietnam entirely, essentially conceding victory to the DirtyCommunists. However, there is a silver lining to this; the guarantee of a unified Socialist Vietnam that is more closely allied with the Soviets [[EnemyMine against]] a greater threat: the [[YellowPeril People's Republic of China]].[[note]]Despite the USSR and the CCP being part of the second-world Combloc, they were definitely ''not'' allies due to differing core ideologies, best exemplified by the Sino-Soviet Split.[[/note]]
** Khrushchev has his hands full holding back the Communist Party's insistence on somehow taking the Gate and the world beyond for themselves; since that would mean open conflict with the Americans for another dimension's civilization that cannot appreciate the benefits of communist ideology over capitalism. He settles for spying and patiently waiting for developments in the Soviet's favor.
* ''Fanfic/FusionImpression'': Whereas the Crystal Gems view fusion as an expression of love and relationships, Jasper sees it more as power-play, similar to how people use strength and social-standings as a means of ascending societal ranks.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ChangelingCourtshipRituals'': One of Twilight's first thoughts after [[AccidentalMarriage accidentally marrying]] [[CrackPairing Chrysalis]] is that this greatly reduces the chances of the changelings trying to conquer Equestria again. On the other hand, Twilight's sister-in-law Cadence is [[RevengeBeforeReason so caught up in her hatred of Chrysalis]] that she remains blind to these implications.
* ''Fanfic/FateBlackDawn'': It is well-known that Morgan is a witch who is at least passively fighting against Camelot. She can still order a booth at a tournament and enter a fighter, because King Arthur can't just ''ignore'' such a powerful entity.
* ''Fanfic/ChasingDragons'':
** When it becomes clear that Tyrosh is going to lose the Third Slave War, their traditional partner Lys abandons their alliance in favor of grabbing up as much territory as they can before the Abolitionist Alliance can.
** With neutrality between the Abolitionists and the Slavers no longer being an option, Lorath decides that the safer option is to ''not'' piss off the militarily stronger Abolitionists, so aligns with Braavos and puts in place a plan to slowly emancipate the city's slaves.
** Lady Shipwright despises Victarion for his raping and pillaging during the fall of Myr, but still plays nice with him for the sake of her House having such a powerful ally.
** Due to the upheaval brought to western Essos' status quo since the Sunset Company's arrival, the dominant faction in Norvos decides to pursue a treaty with the abolitionists in which they will enact a slow manumission of their slave population in exchange for being allowed to annex Qohor's former territories unmolested. In the eyes of this faction, the small sacrifice of this change to their culture will bring their city greater glory in the long-term. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, reactionaries decide to stage a coup rather than let this happen.]]
** In response to Lorath's capitulation to Braavos, which they see as part of Braavosi colonialist expansion, Saath and Ibben band together to metaphorically draw a line in the sand.
** Lys eventually sues for peace with the Abolitionists at the end of the Fourth Slave War to avoid being outright crushed, accepting the loss of their mainland territories to Myr and permanent military occupation of their islands by Braavos to ensure that they enact manumission on their slaves. And for their part, Myr only accepts a peace treaty (as opposed to their original plans of invading the islands) for the sake of preserving their alliance with Braavos.
* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': The fic goes into great length about the political climate between Equestria and the other nations.
* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'':
** The [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Nova Corps]] allow the member worlds of their empire to do anything they want short of things like slavery so long as they stay members. This is why they don't intervene in [[WesternAnimation/ThreeBelow Morando's coup on Arkiridion V]], along with the fact that fighting him would destroy the military resources they'll need to face [[GreaterScopeVillain the Black Order]].
** Small-scale, local politics version -- according to [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Chloe]], the only reason her father supports Paris' LGBTQ community is because that gets him more votes than pandering to the religious crowd. The fact that Chloe [[ArmoredClosetGay feels the need to hide her real sexuality]] from him would suggest that his personal opinions are far different.
* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfRemnant'':
** One of the key parts of the story. Yes Salem is an unrepentant monster, but she is also the head of state of the most powerful nation on the planet. The other nations simply cannot ignore her, or even censure her. As long as they play her games, she will negotiate. Even with her negotiating in bad faith, it's still better than her just sending the Grimm against everyone.
** This is also one of the biggest factors working against Jaune. All he wants is peace, but even if everyone believed that (which they don't), they have other priorities.
** After chapter 44, [[spoiler:all five of the Claimed are immortal. Mention is made of the world governments scrambling to figure out how to deal with ''five'' unkillable abominations instead of just one. Their first move is "give them whatever they ask for and be very happy they just wanted a visit from their friends."]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The T'au in the Literature/CiaphasCain novel ''For the Emperor'' use this as their justification for occupying sections of the planet. Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!) points out that the Imperium have used exactly the same rationale to then seize said planets soon after.
* John 'Gentleman Johnny' Marcone, later Accorded Baron Marcone of Chicago in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' is a typical example of the Kingpin type -- he's the head of Chicago's underworld, and a ruthless criminal... but after his takeover of the Chicago underworld, he went about a ruthlessly efficient clean-up, doing what Dresden terms, "Putting the 'civil' back in 'civil offender'", cutting collateral damage to a minimum and personally executing anyone who tries to involve or victimise children. As Dresden notes, there's enough decency in him that, to Dresden's irritation, he can't just file him under pure villain and call it a day. However, this relative decency, tight control of Chicago's underworld, and considerable resultant power mean that Dresden winds up saving him on several occasions, and helping him expand his power by becoming an Accorded Baron under the Unseelie Accords, simply because he is far better than the alternative and, in the latter case, Dresden can't be everywhere and Marcone will defend Chicago out of pure pragmatism (it's ''his'' turf) if given the opportunity.
** Lara Raith of the White Court is a similar case, with her and Dresden repeatedly using each other as catspaws to achieve their own ends, and [[EnemyMine both are willing to make alliances to deal with mutual enemies.]] This is despite the fact that she's perfectly happy to admit that she's a monster, if an AffablyEvil one, and Dresden has made it bluntly clear that she is "on his list", as is Marcone.
** Mab, Queen of the Winter Court, is basically the Queen of Realpolitik too, being the most purely pragmatic character in the Dresdenverse. She's also absolutely terrifying.
* One of the post-[[Creator/IsaacAsimov Asimov]] ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' authors claimed that aliens never showed up because robots [[ThreeLawsCompliant killed them to protect]] [[ExactWords humans]].
* In a Creator/RobertAHeinlein novel, ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel'', the Three Galaxies organization of many alien races puts HumanityOnTrial. Our hero Kip says this is unjust. The alien moderator responds that the Three Galaxies don't bother trying to understand "justice" but are a defence organization that destroys any race that will be a threat.
* The Andermani Empire in the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series is known for determining all foreign policy by ''realpolitik'', which is unsurprising, since they model themselves after Prussia. In a subversion of how this trope is usually portrayed, they are just as famous for expanding their empire by rescuing planets in trouble, for entirely pragmatic and selfish reasons -- a tradition that started with Gustav Anderman's rescue of Kuan-Yin, now known as Potsdam.
* The ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'' series dips into this whenever Eric steps in to help his surrogate little sister, Queen Kasile of Ataidar. Such occasions are slandering a neighboring ruler on her behalf but in his own name in order to shape public opinion to her liking and spying on visiting diplomats. These are commonly played for laughs but it happens more seriously during the Mana Mutation Summit of [[Literature/ManaMutationMenace its third entry]]. Here, Prince Lunas of Latrot tries to sway this gathering of world leaders by appealing to their self-interest when all he's really interested in is Latrot's interest [[spoiler: (or rather, that of [[ThePowersThatBe Order]])]]. Annala Enaz seeks to undermine his plan not by exposing it as a [[spoiler: veiled attempt at work conquest (which it is)]] but by how it is not in their interest to follow it and how her mother's plan helps them so much more. The delegates themselves care less about the OrderVersusChaos war going on between them than about the interests of their country, the ruling part, and their own careers.
* ''Literature/KentuckyFriedPolitics'':
** When the US intervenes against the Soviet-backed MilitaryCoup in Ethiopia, President Mondale convinces the Soviets to back off from further involvement by offering to sell them millions of tons of wheat at a discount. Facing a potentially starving population due to poor agricultural resources, the Soviets begrudgingly accept the deal.
** After Syria invades Israel on a quite thin pretext (a rogue Israeli national assassinating a Lebanese official with Syrian business ties), the rest of the Arab nations side with Israel in order to preserve the prosperous economic connections that have come from twenty-or-so years of peace in the Middle East.
* ''Literature/MagicMetahumansMartiansAndMushroomCloudsAnAlternateColdWar'':
** Despite distrusting Mao, Stalin still provides aid to the PRC in the Chinese Civil War in order to avoid having an American ally right on his borders.
** Both the US and Israel cut deals for material support with [[CurseOfThePharaoh Ramses XI's]] takeover of Egypt -- for the Americans, it's the standard "as long as he's not communist" philosophy, while for the Israelis it's because he only wants to rule Egypt as it existed in his time (which doesn't include the Sinai territories Israel took from modern Egypt), and also because he doesn't care either way about Jews and is outright hostile towards the surrounding Muslim countries.
** The Soviets are also happy to support Subhas Bose's attempts to take over India, in the hopes of bringing it into their fold.
** For a time, Nationalist China refrains from annexing Tibet due to not wanting to anger the ''[[WarriorMonk Yuzhou de fangshi]]'' monks. Eventually, however, they feel that it's better to risk it than let Tibet fall under India's sway.
** During the East African War, nations like Israel and South Africa send material support to Kenya and Tanzania to fight off Uganda's aggression. And after Uganda wins, Rwanda and Ethiopia make concessions to Amin to keep him from invading them too, Rhodesia sends him extravagant gifts to keep him from supporting rebellions against their white minority rule, and both the USA and USSR compete to get him in their respective camps.
** During the Spanish CivilWar that breaks out after Franco [[BrainUploading digitizes his consciousness]] in order to stay in power forever, NATO supplies aid to Luis Blanco's reformist forces, due to being more amenable to their interests. The Soviets, meanwhile, support left-wing guerrillas in Catalonia for the same reasons.
** Once the Iraqi civil war breaks out, the western powers, Soviet bloc, and the various members of the Non-Aligned Movement all start funneling material support to whichever of the various factions is most in keeping with their respective agendas.
** When the Americans and Soviets unilaterally decide to evenly split the rest of the solar system between the two of them for colonization, most of the rest of the nations with space programs retaliate with diplomatic and economic pressure that eventually forces the two superpowers to agree to UN arbitration on how much of each planet they can colonize.
** While Rhodesia is able to maintain white minority rule for several more years than in reality, several factors -- the total lack of foreign aid, the eventual retirement, death, or defection of all their local metahumans, and the fact that the dinosaur hybrids provided by Mengele aren't a long-term tactical solution to the black militants -- causes them to eventually submit to the inevitable and agree to transition to equality to avoid being overthrown.
* ''Literature/NewDealCoalitionRetained'':
** Somalia defects from the African Socialist Alliance to the Entebbe Pact in order to nab territory from Ethiopia.
** Iraq switches its allegiances from the Soviets to the Americans after Iran goes Communist, and the Americans eagerly accept them as a strong ally in the region.
** China is allied to the Soviets, but stays neutral in WorldWarIII in order to maintain the security of its own sphere of influence in Asia. They only get directly involved when Japan enters the war on NATO's behalf and invades Siberia, and even then it's just because a Soviet collapse would allow Japan to claim massive territory claims; China makes sure everyone knows it's only fighting Japan, to avoid getting dragged into the larger war. [[spoiler: And they sue for a separate peace as soon as it becomes clear the Soviets are losing.]]
** Libya sits out most of WWIII, but keeps a neutrality that is clearly communist-friendly, no doubt because the Soviets and their allies seem to have the upper hand. Near the end of the war, however, when it becomes clear that the Allies are winning, they declare war on the Warsaw Pact and help defeat the last remaining communist countries in Africa.
** Slobodan Milošević is placed in charge of Yugoslavia by the Soviets to try and shore up Communist control of what territories they still have. However, unlike the increasingly delusional hardliners in the Politburo, Milošević realizes that the Allies are going to win, so abandons communism in favor of Serbian nationalism, reaching out with an offer of working with the Allies in exchange for control of a Greater Serbia carved out of Yugoslavia post-war. And while the Allies are hesitant (due to wanting to divide Yugoslavia along ethnic lines) they're more desperate to weaken Warsaw Pact forces in the Balkans, so they accept Milošević's proposal.
*** And when NATO realizes post-war what a horrible mistake was and start putting sanctions on Serbia in response to its human rights violations, Milošević responds by forming close ties with various former Allied or neutral nations (primarily the Entebbe Pact, Iraq, India and China) which are seeking increased influence to counter that of the major powers.
** In the 90s, the CIA backs coups of narco-friendly regimes in South America that are fueling the drug crisis in America. They specifically state that they don't care if the new rulers they install become dictators, as long as they don't continue that trend.
** During the Great Southern War, the Entebbe Pact finances separatist militant groups in Freyist and Concordat nations, with them doing the same to such groups in Pact nations, to weaken their enemies' war efforts.
* In Literature/OperationMassacre, that is the excuse for the political violence of Aramburu's regime. This book, too, [[PoeticJustice was used as a proof for Aramburu's execution]] by the left-wing guerrilla [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Montoneros]].
* Herhor in ''Literature/{{Pharaoh}}'' is completely ruthless. Pentuer, his understudy, gives up politics in disgust.
* This is what ''Literature/ThePrince'' is ''actually'' about -- not about tyranny and cruelty, but about unfettered pragmatism whereby the title character protects and advances his interests (and that of the princedom, of course, but they're basically the same).
* ''Literature/TheScholomance'':
** This is the entire reason why the enclaves opened up the school to children of independent wizarding families in the first place. By doing so and giving these children a quality education, they increased the potential number of recruits to help enrich their enclaves -- and more importantly, provided CannonFodder for the mals that reside at the school to chomp at while keeping their own children safe. When El realizes this for herself, it puts her off the idea of ever joining an enclave, just like her mom.
** As the Scholomance was built by western enclaves and has only ever been maintained by them, a disproportionate amount of seats are allocated towards wizards in the western world, to the point the nearly every indie kid in the UK gets a seat at the school. Compare that to the east, where the enclaves only have just enough to send their own children (and even ''that'' is a recent development) and a handful of seats for their own indie kids to compete viciously over. As there is a stark divide between the western and eastern wizards with minimal overlap, that means the eastern enclavers have less potential allies and recruits to choose from for graduation and thus lower survival rates than their western counterparts. This has become a major point of contention in the recent decades and drives much of the conflict of the second book.
* {{Doorstopper}} MedievalEuropeanFantasy and Realpolitik met one night, both got seriously drunk on History... and ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is their surprise baby. Yes, you get dragons, magic, kings, queens, assassins, guards, [[TheFairFolk "faeries"]], taverns and bards: but, what you mainly get is a whole zoo full of [[GambitPileUp political shenanigans]] (national, international, personal and interpersonal) played out quite cynically, pragmatically and violently. People find themselves working together when they hate each other's guts, refuse to work with others they personally admire because of differing goals; they'll support, set up or kill off ''anybody'' in the way to get ahead, shift alliances and target swap all to keep their group's heads above water or to get ahead themselves... the whole enchilada. Consequences for the smallest actions produce massive, unpredicted (not necessarily unpredictable) repercussions. Agendas and counter-agendas tighten around each other in the [[TitleDrop Game of Thrones.]] The best players play with cleverness and pragmatism (which often works for quite some time, barring the odd SpannerInTheWorks), some try to use it with a dash of cruelty (newsflash: it tends to work... until it very seriously doesn't), some try to mix in ''some'' idealism (iffy: often backfires when they get the mix wrong, or other players misread the moves): but, ultimately, luck has the final say on how the game plays out thanks to the ''sheer number'' of factors involved -- some quite [[OutsideContextProblem outside the known board layout]].
* ''Literature/TheTravelersGate'': Enosh is an apocalypse cult that controls a small city-state, and is dedicated to destroying the Damasca Kingdom. Damasca could easily have conquered Enosh centuries ago, but having a powerful nation of Travelers nearby, even an enemy one, had its advantages. Enosh helped keep the Territories in check, they occasionally shared knowledge, and even had a few trade treaties.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In "3:00 P.M.-4:00 P.M." from the fifth season of ''Series/TwentyFour'', Jack Bauer argues with James Nathanson, who is trying to justify the killing of former president David Palmer, whom Jack greatly admires and has personally saved the life of more than once. Nathanson spins a story about how Palmer's death was a necessity, but Jack's not buying it.
-->'''Jack''': I've heard your reasoning from Walt Cummings. It's still treason.
-->'''Nathanson''': No. It's a realpolitik.
* On ''Series/BabylonFive'', this is the philosophy espoused by most of the Centauri (except for Vir, who is the TokenGoodTeammate, and Emperor Cartagia, who is TheCaligula).
* ''Series/GameOfThrones''
** Robb Stark is [[TheStrategist great at battle tactics]], but when it comes to politics he made two MAJOR political mistakes that would eventually cost him dearly, all because he refused to play Realpolitik.
** His ArchEnemy, Tywin Lannister, is the embodiment of Realpolitik and it is extended to the rest of his family, whether they like it or not. To wit, the continued success of the Lannisters -- beyond military might, and the sheer amount of gold the family rests upon -- is due largely to Tywin's cold, critical knack for impersonal politicking.
---> '''Lord Tywin:''' The house that puts family first will always defeat the house that puts the whims and wishes of its sons and daughters first. A good man does everything in his power to better his family's position regardless of his own selfish desires.
*** He forges an alliance with the rival Tyrell family (via Littlefinger), the second most powerful family in Westeros, by marrying his grandsons to them and they help him crush Stannis Baratheon. He offers his enemy house member Roose Bolton (Robb Stark's second-in-command) the title of Warden of the North, and Walder Frey (a potential Stark supporter) the lord paramount title of the Riverlands. Robb Stark is murdered by these two soon after. He'd also (as much as he'd prefer not to) sell out his own attack dog Ser Gregor Clegane to the Martells if it means solidifying the Lannister power base.
*** He further explains this reasoning to Cersei after winning the war, noting that there's only so much the Lannisters can bully and push people around and the space for that is even less when they are broke and in debt. So Tywin has to curry favor with the Tyrells with marriage alliances even if he doesn't trust them at all:
---> '''Tywin:''' You don't form alliances with people you trust.
*** On the other hand, while brilliant in politics, Tywin's less pragmatic attitude towards his family and personal affairs is ultimately what leads to his downfall. Interestingly enough, his second term as Hand of the King follows a similar trajectory to Ned Stark's tenure. Even though he's a ruthless and feared administrator with almost no lengths to which he won't go to secure his family's power, he still fails to prevent an assassination of the king, is made into an UnwittingPawn by Littlefinger, agitates an old enemy who has one of his family in their power to the point of conflict, and dies.
** Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish gives several speeches embodying this perspective. He also practices it, creating alliances between the Tyrells(who had supported a rival claimant Renly Baratheon) and the Lannisters and managing to negotiate for himself a sweet position as Lord of the only region in Westeros that hasn't participated in the war. He gives a NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech to this effect, noting that the Kingdom, the traditions of honor and chivalry, even the Iron Throne are essentially fictitious constructs that embodies the values of order rather than enforces it and the realm actually functions on an elaborate deception.
--> '''Littlefinger''': The realm. Do you know what the realm is? It's the thousand blades of Aegon's enemies, a story we agree to tell each other over and over, until we forget that it's a lie.\\
'''Lord Varys''': But what do we have left, once we abandon the lie? Chaos? A gaping pit waiting to swallow us all.\\
'''Littlefinger''' Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some, are given a chance to climb. They refuse, they cling to the realm or the gods or love. Illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.
* In ''Series/{{JAG}}'', this way of reasoning is often used by Clayton Webb and other UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} characters to justify their actions.
* ''Series/TheOrville'' uses this at times to show how a Planety Union may have issues with some of its own members.
** The biggest case are the Moclans. A ProudWarriorRace, they provide much of the technology the Union needs and some members are good people. However, their "traditions" can often seem very backward. If a Moclan is born female, they must either undergo a gender correction surgery or be forever exiled from their society. Likewise, a Moclan attracted to a female of another species also faces being ostracized. "Deflectors" has Ed and Kelly openly musing on how the Moclan society clashes far too much with the rest of the Union but the brutal truth is, the Union needs them too much to try and make them conform.
*** The solution to this crisis was realizing that this trope cuts two ways. Sure, the Moclans have some of the best weapons tech in the Union, but they don't have the manpower when faced with the recent threat of [[spoiler: the Kaylon]] and the only other possible alliance that could cover that disadvantage would be the Krill, who are ScaryDogmaticAliens who believe any non-Krill offend their god by simply existing. Sure, the Krill formed an alliance of convenience in the last threat, but they still weren't making any attempt at a cease-fire let alone a defense alliance. As Captain Mercer points out if the Moclans want to leave the Union to ensure they stay a SingleSexSpecies, they can do that... but as the all-female colony is better hidden and will likely survive it's not exactly what the males want from the negotiation.
*** Ultimately the agreement reached is that the female Moclans will stop the underground railroad to liberate females born on Moclus and aren't admitted as full members of the Union; in exchange, Moclus will not try to eliminate the colony. As the females' leader points out, the solution is not ideal, but considering that it's a step up from genocide in that they get to live to fight another day, it's certainly a major victory from their view.
*** Ultimately ultimately, [[spoiler:Topa being kidnapped and tortured by the Moclan government for information]] is the final straw for the Union Council, and they unanimously vote to expel Moclus.
* In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' the MainCharacters are ''put on trial'' for [[WhatTheHellHero their previous actions]]. Shepard basically argues that they aren't fighting for right or wrong, but rather they are fighting for ''themselves''.
* A friendlier version than most is seen in relations between the Russian Federation and the United States in ''Series/StargateSG1''. The two are officially allies and by later seasons the Russians operate their own SG team under the auspices of Stargate Command. In "Disclosure," though, Col. Chekov notes that part of the reason Russia is willing to take a backseat to America is because that way, the United States foots most of the bill for adapting ImportedAlienPhlebotinum, then Russia can turn around and build from American blueprints for a fraction of the cost.
** In "Crusade", when the Russian Federation briefly supports the People's Republic of China bid for control of the Stargate, Chekov later admits that it was simply a ploy by his government to leverage plans to build their own ''Daedalus-class'' [[CoolStarship battlecruiser]]. While the Russians have long-desired to run the Stargate program, they're content (for now) with the arrangement to simply loan the Gate to the Americans and make them pay through the nose to use it. Both Landry and Chekov admit that their governments would rather maintain the deal than let [[EnemyMine another]] [[BetterTheDevilYouKnow nation]] take control of offworld affairs, ''especially'' not the Chinese.[[note]]For those unfamiliar with world politics, the Russians and Chinese have been regional rivals, though not exactly enemies, since TheFifties.[[/note]]
** In "48 Hours", it's made even more clear by Major Davis, when he coldly tells Colonel Chekov that the U.S. would consider any attempt by another nation to start their own Stargate Program to be an act of war.
* On ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', in the episode "Wolf In the Fold", Kirk explicitly refuses the suggestion that he help Scotty escape the planet on which he had been charged with murder. While he does his best to, and eventually does, get Scotty cleared of murder, Kirk says that he'll allow Scotty to be jailed and executed if he's found guilty -- even if Kirk believes him innocent. Why? Because the planet is a strategically vital port, and helping Scotty escape its justice would sour them against the Federation.
* Characteristic of Romulan foreign policy in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and beyond. For example, the Klingons and Romulans are old enemies, and so the Romulans are quite happy to provide support to the House of Duras when they rebel against Chancellor Gowron because it means they get to DivideAndConquer the Klingons ''and'' screw over the Klingons' allies the Federation in the bargain.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' treats this trope as the order of the day, with some very underhanded episodes such as "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" and "In the Pale Moonlight". Many of these episodes involve [[NoSuchAgency Section 31]], which [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans does whatever's necessary to protect]] TheFederation.
* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' has Picard angry with Starfleet for refusing to help the Romulans when their star was going nova which killed millions of their people. He does a televised interview on how the Federation betrayed its principles by not helping their long-time enemies. Admiral Clancy then chastises Picard for not grasping how several major Federation members threatened to pull out if they went ahead to aid the Romulans, especially after a synthetic rebellion destroyed much of their fleet.
-->'''Clancy''': Even before the synthetics attacked Mars, fourteen species within the Federation said "cut the Romulans loose or we'll pull out". It was a choice between letting the Federation implode, and letting the Romulans go.
-->'''Picard''': The Federation does not get to decide if a species lives or dies.
-->'''Clancy''': Yes, we do. We absolutely do. Thousands of species depend upon us for unity. We didn’t have enough ships left. We had to make choices.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/{{Coldplay}}'s "Politik" from ''Music/ARushOfBloodToTheHead'' extends this idea to relationships, and how some people use others to gain an advantage.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck, a 19th century Prussian statesman who served as the First Chancellor to King Wilhelm I, advocated realpolitik as a means of uniting Germany. Specifically, this was in opposition to the democratic nationalist movements which attempted to unite Germany as a confederation in the 1830s and 1840s, whereas Bismarck's plan was to unite the German states under Prussian hegemony by uniting them against various external threats. Bismarck would utilize realpolitik again during the Franco-Prussian War, where Prussia's victory as the lead of the coalition of several German states at the French emperor Napoleon III's expense propped up Prussia's standing among the other German states enough for Wilhelm I to proclaim a unified German state ''in the French palace of Versailles'' in 1871.
* UsefulNotes/LordCastlereagh, a 19th century Anglo-Irish statesman and diplomat who served as Foreign Secretary under UsefulNotes/LordLiverpool is widely recognised as one of the first practitioners of realpolitik. He is credited with creating the union between Ireland and Great Britian, despite his dislike of the Irish government and distrust of absolute monarchy. He was also implemented a "hands off" style of British diplomacy when it came to European affairs, but was regardless one of the major players at the Congress of Vienna.
* UsefulNotes/RichardNixon made his political career being a stalwart anticommunist, yet he and Henry Kissinger (his Secretary of State) were the ones who started the push for greater diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China starting with "ping-pong diplomacy" in 1971 and kicked off on a government level with Nixon's visit to China in 1972 -- [[EnemyMine both held mutual distrust and suspicion of the Soviet Union at the time.]] Formal diplomatic relations were established in 1979, when the US ended official diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China (i.e., Taiwan).
** This was also to help leverage better relations with the Soviet Union, intending to goad the USSR into becoming an ally out of jealousy of China's situation. (i.e. "Hey, China is Communist like us, and they're being friendly with the US while getting some benefits from doing so. Why can't that be us?"). It would also lift them the load of being allied with a country targeted for openly breaching human rights, which was impairing the American discourse of promoting democracy abroad.
** Not coincidentally, Nixon's strong anticommunist reputation was a big reason his administration was able to initiate the move to establish ties with China in the first place -- said record helped to shield him from accusations that he was coddling to DirtyCommunists (something a more moderate president wouldn't have had). This legitimacy-by-previous-enmity is what is meant when it is said that "only Nixon could go to China" (regardless of how much [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry the Vulcans]] may claim is theirs).
* UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle summed this attitude up nicely: "Nations don't have friends, they only have interests."
* Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston spoke of this in the nineteenth century: "Therefore I say that it is a narrow policy to suppose that this country or that is to be marked out as the eternal ally or the perpetual enemy of England. We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow."
* Alexander III of Russia once said: "Russia has two allies: the Army and the Navy". However, he did initiate the Franco-Russian alliance of 1894 (which would play a crucial part in the run-up to UsefulNotes/WorldWarI).
* The Melian dialogue in Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War is an example of how this trope can turn into MightMakesRight. The Athenians asserted their dominance over the Melians due to the fact that they had far stronger military force, and could blackmail the Melians into accepting either submitting peacefully or being killed. The idea was that "the strong will do what they will and the weak will accept what they must".
* During the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, Finland was in the awkward situation of being a liberal democracy with a mixed economy but also very vulnerable to direct attack by the Soviet Union. Or should we say, ''renewed'' direct attack by the Soviet Union, since the Soviets had actually tried to conquer Finland before (to the point where Helsinki was desperate enough to turn to UsefulNotes/NaziGermany for help). As a result, Finland had every reason to want to join the West...but also every reason to ''not'' piss off the East. The result was a policy of doing everything in their power to avoid unnecessarily offending Moscow while trying to maintain good relations with the West; President Urho Kekkonen defined this policy as ''art of bowing to East without mooning to West'', and stated ''Find your friends near and your enemies far''. Nevertheless, the policy was criticized in some anti-Communist circles, to the point where [[UsefulNotes/TheChancellorsOfGermany Willy Brandt]]'s ''Neue Ostpolitik'' ("New Eastern Policy", i.e. detente with the Soviet bloc in general and UsefulNotes/EastGermany in particular) was derogatorily called "Finlandization" by many members of the [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalSystemOfGermany CDU/CSU]].
** A staggering example of this occured during TheSeventies, when the Soviet Union asked Finland to help them find a way to invade Norway (one of only two UsefulNotes/{{NATO}} allies of the day[[note]]The other being Turkey[[/note]] with a land border with the USSR). Finland obliged, but decided to work so slowly that the whole thing was stalled, and the Soviets eventually abandoned the idea.
* One example of this was the Western Allies allying with the Soviet Union during World War II. On one side, you had a group of largely democratic countries (most of which, admittedly, had large, distinctly un-democratically-run Empires) who had a strong history of anti-Communism. On the other, you had a totalitarian Communist state which had killed nearly a million of its own people as ideological enemies and imprisoned a few million more. What brought them together -- the ''only'' thing, even -- was a common EnemyMine in the form of ThoseWackyNazis and Italian fascism. While this did lead to beneficial co-operation between the two powers, it also led to things such as what some have termed [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_betrayal the Western Betrayal.]] Winston Churchill, a vehement anti-Communist, rather famously summed it up as:
--> If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.
** Allied Realpolitik after the war resulted in actions such as "Operation Paperclip", the de-Nazification of [[HerrDoktor scientists and technical personnel]] who had built the V2 Rockets for Germany, often using slave labor from concentration camps in dreadful conditions. Indeed, more people were killed making these rockets than the rockets did on its own. The most notorious is Wernher von Braun. The reason for this absorption was that the USA wanted to make sure that the Soviet Union, in the early stages of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, didn't get a leg-up in UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace (they failed).
** Although the the Space Race was definitely important from the standpoint of propaga and national prestige, the real reason behind these development programs was to perfect [[UsefulNotes/PeaceThroughSuperiorFirepower ballistic missile systems]], because both sides had seen how the Nazis had developed a weapon that could fly between nations and couldn't be stopped, and you could be sure the Soviet Union was working on [[UsefulNotes/FromRussiaWithNukes their own program]].
** UsefulNotes/JosephStalin was also one hell of a pragmatist -- firstly, he [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapallo_Treaty organized]] mutual aid with Weimar Germany, as they were both troubled pariah states, despite Germany being a capitalist republic. He also abandoned Lenin's ideas of world revolution, focusing on "Building socialism in one country", and hijacked Trotsky's ideas of hyper-industrialisation. After Hitler's takeover, he still traded with Germany; then he tried to ally with the Entente against Hitler; after seeing their reluctance to stop him, he [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact negotiated]] with Hitler, despite his rabid anti-communism, while re-arming and organizing the army. During UsefulNotes/WorldWarII he united Russians with ideas of succession between UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia and the USSR, glorifying old-time heroes like Alexander Nevsky or Admiral Ushakov, painting old invaders like UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte or Teutonic Knights as ANaziByAnyOtherName. After the war, despite anti-Semitic politics, he lobbied the UN for the creation of Israel.
** The U.S. protected the majority of war criminals from the infamous Unit 731 in the Imperial Japanese Army and gave them political and legal immunity from prosecution in exchange for their cooperation in American bioweapons research. Almost all the core members of Unit 731 were notorious for conducting truly horrific experimentation on unwilling ''live'' subjects (mostly Chinese, White Russians and Koreans, although a few American, British and New Zealand [=POWs=] were also subjected to the experiments), such as vivisecting people while they were unconscious, forcing prisoners into pressure chambers to watch how they died and herding entire village populations into huge chambers to be killed by the full effects of bubonic plague, anthrax or frostbite. By securing cooperation from the war criminals, the U.S. demanded that they shared the data obtained through those experiments with them. It should be noted, though, that the members didn't tell the Americans ''how'' they got the data, but simply the results. It's worth noting that many in the West, including the U.S. government, dismissed witness reports about the activities of Unit 731 as "communist propaganda".
** [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Nationalist China]], the fourth major Allied power, is an interesting case. The regime was a military dictatorship under Generalissimo UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek, controlling China as a single-party state. The Kuomintang ruling party encompassed various bickering wings, from socialists to traditionalists. However, each wing was kept united under Chiang, who settled on a centrist position and prided himself on it. This let China get foreign aid from Nazi Germany, the USSR, and America throughout the 1930s, especially once the devastating war with Japan began in 1937 proper. When China joined the Allies in 1941, it was ultimately America that took the most interest. America had plenty of business and missionary interests in China, and FDR believed that the nation deserved to become a world power (with American guidance). So Chiang decided to convince Roosevelt that China could potentially become a liberal democracy. This had some basis in fact -- the KMT under Chiang was in the "People's Tutelage" stage theorized by its left-leaning founder, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, which prepared the people for democracy through single-party rule. Although the Americans initially believed this, it soon became abundantly clear that Chiang's government was a ''very'' corrupt authoritarian regime with no interest in transforming into a democracy anytime soon. Said corruption and the KMT's terrible policy record on domestic issues disillusioned many American personnel. Yet China's contribution -- tying down half of the IJA in China to stop them from re-inforcing Japan's Pacific territories -- was invaluable to the Allied war effort. Roosevelt also maintained good relations with Chiang (it helped both men had much in common, such as being staunch anti-imperialists). As a result, the U.S. did provide China with military aid and tried their best to prop up Chiang's government. By 1945, China had regained several territories (including Taiwan) from Japan, ended most of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unequal_treaty unequal treaties]] and was a permanent member of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council UN Security Council]]. However, corruption had worsened and the regime was struggling to hold itself up after eight years of destructive fighting. The U.S. eventually got frustrated with Chiang and withdrew aid during the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Civil_War Chinese Civil War]], which was one of the decisive factors in the eventual communist victory. Chiang, realizing that he had lost, fled to Taiwan in 1949 and set up shop there, pushing out crucial reforms but also establishing an even harsher military dictatorship than the one on the mainland. The U.S. and Chiang re-established relations, with Truman realizing the importance of an anti-communist bulwark in East Asia. It wasn't until 1973 that the U.S. (and most Western nations) finally acknowledged the PRC as the "real" China, in no small part due to the increasingly influential Chinese economy.
* During the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, the rationale for the democratic US to prop up, support, and aid autocratic strongman regimes and dictatorships with dubious, if not outright brutal and horrific human rights records just to fight Communism, even overthrowing democratic regimes to make way for such autocracies or totalitarian juntas, was based upon realpolitik. Whether it worked or was effective or not, or whether more humane decisions could have been made to fight Communism (i.e: letting the countries remain democratic and try to work with them) is a very controversial topic when examining US history. The U.S. has pursued a similar policy in their dealings with the Middle East, with the goals being (a) keeping oil prices reasonable, and (b) minimizing overt hostilities between Israel and her neighbors.
* In the American two-party system, "primary elections", where candidates compete for their party's nomination, is a major part of deciding the next president. Many candidates, if they're losing in the primaries, will graciously bow out so as not to "fracture the party". Frequently, they'll endorse a candidate who they have some disagreements with, to prevent the victory of the other party (and may be rewarded with a position in that former opponent's administration).
** Candidates can run without the support of either of the major parties, but no such candidate has won in modern history. The irony is that such a run diverts votes from the candidate with more similar positions, which may enable the victory of someone who you strongly oppose. This effect resulted in UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt causing Taft's defeat to UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson, and is often credited as a deciding factor in the 2000 US election, where Ralph Nader split the vote with UsefulNotes/AlGore. This is why politicians who want real power very rarely run outside the two-party system.
** The irony of Gore's loss is that he became Vice President because of UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush's loss to UsefulNotes/BillClinton (the President Gore served as Veep to) in 1992, thanks to Ross Perot splitting the vote. Bill Clinton, although winning both his presidential elections, never received the majority of the Popular Vote (only the plurality) because of this as well. He remains the only President to twice be elected despite never having a majority of the popular vote.
* During general elections where there are more than two major parties, if a voter finds their preferred candidate is not popular enough to get elected, they will vote for a candidate they only mostly agree with to keep out someone they really dislike.
** In Canada, prior to the 2015 federal election, there were open discussions among voters about strategic voting between the NDP and the Liberals in order to knock the Conservatives -- who had been in power for 10 years, never with an absolute majority of the vote -- out of office. What they suggested was that, in ridings where it was quite clear that either the Liberal candidate or NDP candidate would probably be in third place, said third-place candidate's potential voters should instead vote for the candidate (Liberal or NDP) who would be in ''second'' place, which would, theoretically, allow them to beat the Conservative who would otherwise win a three-way (or more) race by a plurality.
** In the 2016 US Presidential elections, both candidates were polling below 50% for much of the campaign. (One poll among millennials found that both candidates polled lower than a third term for Obama, a machine that would select at random one eligible person who wasn't Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton, and [[Film/Armageddon1998 a meteor the size of Texas striking the planet]].) A few optimists saw the possibility that third party voting would increase, but in the end, many people voted for one candidate because they could not stand the other. In the end, overall voting was a record low (in spite of record early voter turn out), but exit polling revealed that Donald Trump actually did a few points better with minority votes than 2012 candidate Mitt Romney, while Hillary Clinton had lost a larger percentage of minority voters than the gains seen by Trump (indicating other candidates or non-voting).
** In UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland, the [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles unique situation]] brings realpolitik very much into play during elections, due to voters generally voting for a party's constitutional position on UsefulNotes/TheIrishQuestion in spite of their other policies or positions. For example, the DUP are very right-wing, but strongly in favour of keeping NI in the UK; while Sinn Fein are very left-wing, but strongly in favour of moving NI to be part of the Republic of Ireland. Thus a left-wing British unionist or a right-wing Irish nationalist will likely still vote for the DUP or Sinn Fein respectively simply to, in their mind, keep out 'the other side'.
** The concept of Ranked Choice Voting is designed to eliminate these calculations. In RCV, you explicitly indicate your first choice, your second choice etc., and your ballot gets automatically re-allocated if your first choice loses in an early round of counting.
[[/folder]]

** In the 2016 US Presidential elections, both candidates were polling below 50% for much of the campaign. (One poll among millennials found that both candidates polled lower than a third term for Obama, a machine that would select at random one eligible person who wasn't Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton, and [[Film/{{Armageddon}} a meteor the size of Texas striking the planet]].) A few optimists saw the possibility that third party voting would increase, but in the end, many people voted for one candidate because they could not stand the other. In the end, overall voting was a record low (in spite of record early voter turn out), but exit polling revealed that Donald Trump actually did a few points better with minority votes than 2012 candidate Mitt Romney, while Hillary Clinton had lost a larger percentage of minority voters than the gains seen by Trump (indicating other candidates or non-voting).

** The biggest case are the Moclans. A ProudWarriorRace, they provide much of the technology the Union needs and some members are good people. However, their "traditions" can often seem very backward. If a Moclan is born pure female, they must either undergo a gender correction surgery or be forever exiled from their society. Likewise, a Moclan attracted to a female of another species also faces being ostracized. "Deflectors" has Ed and Kelly openly musing on how the Moclan society clashes far too much with the rest of the Union but the brutal truth is, the Union needs them too much to try and make them conform.
*** The solution to this crisis was realizing that this trope cuts two ways. Sure, the Moclans have some of the best weapons tech in the Union, but they don't have the manpower when faced with the recent threat of [[spoiler: the Kaylon]] and the only other possible alliance that could cover that disadvantage would be the Krill, who are ScaryDogmaticAliens who believe any non-Krill offend their god by simply existing. Sure, the Krill formed an alliance of convenience in the last threat, but they still weren't making any attempt at a cease-fire let alone a defense alliance. As Captain Mercer points out if the Moclans want to leave the Union to ensure they stay a SingleSexSpecies, they can do that... but the all Female colony is better hidden and will likely survive it's not exactly what the males want from the negotiation.
*** Ultimately the agreement reached is that the Female Moclans will stop the underground railroad to liberate females born on Moclus and aren't admitted as full members of the Union, in exchange, Moclus will not try to eliminate the colony. As the female's leader points out, the solution is not ideal, but considering that it's a step up from genocide in that they get to live to fight another day, it's certainly a major victory from their view.

* UsefulNotes/LordCastlereagh, a 19th century Anglo-Irish statesman and diplomat who served as Foreign Secretary under UsefulNotes/LordLiverpool and created the union of Ireland and Great Britain, is widely recognised as one of the first practitioners of realpolitik.

** The U.S. protected the majority of war criminals from the infamous Unit 731 in the Imperial Japanese Army and gave them political and legal immunity from prosecution in exchange for their cooperation in American bioweapons research. Almost all the core members of Unit 731 were notorious for conducting truly horrific experimentation on unwilling ''live'' subjects (mostly Chinese, White Russians and Koreans, although a few American, British and New Zealand [=POWs=] were also subjected to the experiments), such as vivisecting people while they were unconscious, forcing prisoners into pressure chambers to watch how they died and herding entire village populations into huge chambers to be killed by the full effects of bubonic plague, anthrax or frostbite. By securing cooperation from the war criminals, the U.S. demanded that they shared the data obtained through those experiments with them. It should be noted, though, that the members didn't tell the Americans ''how'' they got the data, but simply the results. When the U.S. Government actually discovered [[PlayingWithSyringes just how the Unit conducted their so-called research]], many were so horrified that a number of ex-Unit members were pulled from U.S. bioweapons projects and handed over to the Soviets, who either executed or imprisoned them. It's worth noting that many in the West, including the U.S. government, dismissed witness reports about the activities of Unit 731 as "communist propaganda".

* UsefulNotes/RichardNixon made his political career being a stalwart anticommunist, yet he and Henry Kissinger (his Secretary of State) were the ones who started the push for greater diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China starting with "ping-pong diplomacy" in 1971 and kicked off on a government level with Nixon's visit to China in 1972 -- both held mutual distrust and suspicion of the Soviet Union at the time. Formal diplomatic relations were established in 1979, when the US ended official diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China (i.e., Taiwan).

** Allied Realpolitik after the war resulted in actions such as "Operation Paperclip", the de-Nazification of scientists and technical personnel who had built the V2 Rockets for Germany, often using slave labor from concentration camps in dreadful conditions. Indeed, more people were killed making these rockets than the rockets did on its own. The most notorious is Wernher von Braun. The reason for this absorption was that the USA wanted to make sure that the Soviet Union, in the early stages of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, didn't get a leg-up in the space race (they failed).

* ''Film/{{Downfall}}'': After failing to convince Hitler to negotiate with the Allies, [[StateSec Heinrich Himmler]] unilaterally reaches out to the British Army to offer his surrender. He seems to be operating under the assumption that the Allies would still prefer propping up the Nazi regime so they could use Germany as a counterweight to the communist Soviets. {{Subverted|Trope}} because [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Himmler Cannot Comprehend Good]] -- despite the rest of the Allies having ideological differences with the Soviets (and recognizing that conflict with the Soviet Union is more or less inevitable after the war), nobody with a normal moral code would consider siding with the Nazis for a second. This is especially true as the war is nearly over and there is ample evidence for [[FinalSolution Nazi atrocities]] all across Europe.

* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'': The [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Nova Corps]] allow the member worlds of their empire to do anything they want short of things like slavery so long as they stay members. This is why they don't intervene in [[WesternAnimation/ThreeBelow Morando's coup on Arkiridion V]], along with the fact that fighting him would destroy the military resources they'll need to face [[GreaterScopeVillain the Black Order]].

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* As much as every super-hero in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse agrees that ComicBook/TheKingpin is pure evil, they realize that completely removing him from power would create a struggle for control of the New York City underworld that would get even more innocent lives hurt or killed in the process than leaving him where he is. So the Kingpin stays in power, and the city's heroes try to thwart his criminal activities one operation at a time.

* This trope is prevalent in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', with the colossal GambitPileUp. Nick Fury's goal of protecting humanity, for instance, is noble and he's unquestionably on the side of the good guys, he's willing to use some very shady means to bring it about, with much of the story being a chess match between him and Lucius Malfoy. And that is but the tip of the iceberg.
** Fury's protégé, Director Peter Wisdom of [=MI13=], is an even worse offender, having almost none of his teacher's scruples and being a textbook example of TheUnfettered. He takes advantage of Parliament's fears over the current global situation in order to amass resources and power at a rate that frightens the rest of British Intelligence, uses blackmail and bribery to secure the aid of superpowered individuals, and is working to control, or outright supplant altogether, the currently crippled Ministry of Magic as Britain's magic response organisation. He explains that he genuinely does love his country, and that [[MyCountryRightOrWrong quite simply, there is nothing he will not do to preserve it.]]

* UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck, a 19th century Prussian statesman who served as the First Chancellor to King Wilhelm I, advocated realpolitik as a means of uniting Germany. Specifically, this was in opposition to the democratic nationalist movements which attempted to unite Germany as a confederation in the 1830s and 1840s, whereas Bismarck's plan was to unite the German states under Prussian hegemony by uniting them against various external threats. Bismarck would utilize realpolitik again during the Franco-Prussian War, where