UPSC Mains 2025 GS4 Q2a: model answer
Carl von Clausewitz once said, “War is a diplomacy by other means.” Critically analyse the above statement in the present context of contemporary geo-political conflict.
What the question wants
Interpret the idea that war continues politics, test it against current conflicts, and add an ethical view.
How to structure it
Intro: Clausewitz's idea. Body: (1) Where it holds; (2) Where it falls short; (3) Ethical view. Conclusion: War may still be politics.
- 1(1) Where it holds
- 2(2) Where it falls short
- 3(3) Ethical view
Model answer
Clausewitz, the Prussian strategist, argued that war is a continuation of politics by other means: force is used to achieve political ends when talks fail.
Where it holds
- Russia-Ukraine: military moves are tied to bargaining over territory and NATO.
- Operation Sindoor (2025): limited strikes sent a political message on terrorism and were followed by a ceasefire.
- Coercive tools like sanctions and cyber attacks blur the line between war and diplomacy.
Where it falls short
- Modern wars kill civilians on a massive scale, as in Gaza and Sudan; treating war as normal statecraft hides this cost.
- Non-State actors and terror groups do not follow political logic.
- The UN Charter outlaws force except self-defence.
Ethical view: just war theory demands just cause, last resort and proportionality. Gandhi went further: means must be as pure as ends.
War may still be politics, but in our age it should be the last word, never the next sentence of diplomacy.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Clausewitz continuation of politics just war theory proportionality Gandhian means-ends
Where most answers lose marks
- Only narrating current wars.
Fresh examples from current affairs
SCO Heads of Government meet in Dushanbe: Rajnath calls for dismantling the terror ecosystem
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh represented India at the 25th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 20 October 2026. With Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister in the room, he said there can be no justification and no double standards on terrorism. The meeting adopted the SCO budget for 2027 and a 2026–30 action plan for trade and economic cooperation.
UPSC angle: Prelims: SCO bodies and locations, new centres, INSTC. · Mains GS-II: SCO’s value for India; GS-III: terror financing.
21 Oct 2026
Rubio at Jamnagar: US pitches oil and Venezuelan crude to India’s ‘refining superpower’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery complex in Gujarat on 21 October 2026, a day after calling India a ‘refining superpower’. He wants India to buy more US oil and refine more Venezuelan crude. In Mumbai on 20 October, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also held an unannounced India–US–UAE meeting on energy and connectivity, with the Strait of Hormuz blocked.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Jamnagar, Hormuz, I2U2, IMEC, SPR sites. · Mains GS-II/III: energy security vs strategic autonomy; India–US–UAE.
21 Oct 2026
US PERM freeze on Indian IT firms: what the skilled-migrant crackdown means for India
On 8 October 2026 the US Labor Department suspended Microsoft, Adobe, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, Cognizant and Capgemini from the PERM programme, the labour-certification step for most employment-based green cards. A Hindu data analysis on 21 October shows these firms filed only about 2,000 PERM applications this year, under 2% of the total. The direct hit is small, but the message to Indian talent is large.
UPSC angle: Prelims: PERM, H-1B, I-140, GATS Mode 4. · Mains GS-II: skilled migration and India–US ties; diaspora.
21 Oct 2026
AUSTRAHIND 2026: fifth India–Australia Army exercise begins in Thiruvananthapuram
The fifth edition of the India–Australia joint military exercise AUSTRAHIND began on 19 October 2026 at the Foreign Training Node, Thiruvananthapuram, and runs till 1 November. About 120 soldiers from each army will train for sub-conventional operations in island and coastal terrain under a UN Chapter VII mandate. For the first time, New Zealand has sent observers.
UPSC angle: Prelims: exercise names, venues, partner countries, UN Chapter VII. · Mains GS-III: defence diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific.
20 Oct 2026Learn the concept
Question text as printed in the official UPSC question paper: https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/GENERAL-STUDIES-PAPER-IV-QP-CSM-25-010925.pdf The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.