Realpolitik / Live-Action TV

• In "3:00 P.M.-4:00 P.M." from the fifth season of 24, 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 Babylon 5, this is the philosophy espoused by most of the Centauri (except for Vir, who is the Token Good Teammate, and Emperor Cartagia, who is The Caligula).
• Game of Thrones
  • Robb Stark is 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 Arch-Enemy, 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 Tywin is brilliant in politics, his 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 Unwitting Pawn 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 "No More Holding Back" Speech 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.
• House of the Dragon: The central plot is a Succession Crisis between Rhaenyra (the previous king's eldest child by his first wife) and Aegon (said king's firstborn son, much younger than Rhaenyra, from his second wife). Ostensibly this is a conflict about whether or not to uphold Heir Club for Men... except no one actually cares about that. People first decide who they're going to support out of pragmatic self-interest — which claimant's ascension would be better for me personally? — and then defend the inheritance law that person needs to come to power. People are willing to espouse whichever view about inheritance serves them best at the present moment, switching sides as the situation changes. Otto espoused unisex inheritance when it meant disinheriting a man who was his personal rival, and was later in favor of male-only inheritance when it meant his own grandson becoming king. Daemon was in favor of male-only inheritance when that male heir would've been him; after the birth of his nephew, he favored unisex inheritance to make his wife queen. Alicent and Criston supported Rhaenyra up until interpersonal drama drove them apart. The only character for whom the prospect of a female regnant is actually a serious consideration is Rhaenys — and even for her, this is merely one factor out of many when deciding where she stands in this conflict.
• In JAG, this way of reasoning is often used by Clayton Webb and other CIA characters to justify their actions.
• The Orville 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 Proud Warrior Race, 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 the Kaylon and the only other possible alliance that could cover that disadvantage would be the Krill, who are Scary Dogmatic Aliens 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 Single-Sex Species, 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, 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 Stargate Atlantis the Main Characters are put on trial for 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 Stargate SG-1. 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 Imported Alien Phlebotinum, 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 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 another 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 The '50s.
  • 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.
• Star Trek:
  • In Star Trek: The Original Series, 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 Star Trek: The Next Generation 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 Divide and Conquer the Klingons and screw over the Klingons' allies the Federation in the bargain.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 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 Section 31, which does whatever's necessary to protect The Federation.
  • Star Trek: Picard 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.

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