A seminar presented by Dmitry Zavialov, PhD candidate in the Politics Programme.

The character attack arguments of tu quoque and whataboutism are commonplace in international politics. These arguments share a commonality of questioning the moral authority of the opponent while deflecting criticism. At the same time, they are also used as a tactic for diverting attention. It takes no time to find character attack arguments in the rhetoric at the UN Security Council. Their effects are not unidirectional – while they push the countries to evaluate their stances for consistency, they prevent states from engaging each other constructively. Their constant usage contributes to the general public's perception of the UN as a needless theatrical body.

In this talk, I share the insights from my PhD project. I outline the results of the analysis of verbatim records of UNSC meetings and conducted interviews with UN diplomats and experts. My investigation draws on the discussion of argument, rhetoric and ethics in International Relations theory.