Moral math: Does 1 WNBA star = 1 arms dealer?

A thought experiment... What is your immediate response to the following words and concepts: freedom and individual rights; justice and the rule of law; the vision of a long-separated family finally able to reunite for the holidays.

By far most of us, I’m sure, would say they’re all positive and worth cherishing. And so, too, would heads of government in America and other democracies across the globe, who argue that world politics cannot be only about the exercise of power or the search for short-term gain.

Politics should be rooted in values.

Yet the controversy surrounding United States President Joe Biden’s prisoner swap to secure the freedom of Brittney Griner, an American basketball star effectively held hostage in Russia, has underscored something too rarely acknowledged about such “values-based” foreign policy.

It’s a lot easier said than done.