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to seemingly altruistic or ‘ethical’ foreign policy, viewed by some as a contradictionin terms.3.1. What has morality to do with it?Chapter 2 made the case for a divergent internationalism in the developing worldsince the middle of the twentieth century. As noted by some analysts, however, thisform of solidarity and internationalism often served to protect deviant regimes frominternational censure, as well as to increase the global prestige of otherwiseinsignificant states. To what extent, then, is internationalism really about ethics?For large developing countries – or so-called ‘emerging powers’ – the case may bemade that adopting internationalism as a foreign policy approach has more to dowith domestic restraints and limited capabilities than actually diffusing a givenideology, liberal or otherwise. This is especially true since the demise of theempirical category of ‘Third World’ since the 1970s. Thus, the key tenets ofinternationalism highlighted in Chapter 2, namely:- Commitment to the peaceful settlement of international disputes- South-south solidarity- Commitment to multilateralism, and- Respect for the principle of non-interferencecombine to increase the relative power capabilities of intermediate states, whilepotentially reducing the challenges to resource extraction and mobilisation. Bycommitting to the peaceful settlement of international disputes, states are able,especially in their immediate geographical regions, to forestall the use of force, forwhich they may not be militarily and strategically prepared. Maintaining apredictable and stable international environment also contributes toward economicstability and growth for emerging economies. Seeking increasing engagement withcountries of the developing world diversifies trade opportunities for emergingmarkets and also strengthens their bargaining capacity in multilateral settings, wherethe strength of numbers may win important concessions or resolutions. Thecommitment to multilateralism is an important ‘force multiplier’ in the diplomaticstrategies of intermediate states, as they are able to some extent to mitigate the84