One way to understand Machiavelli is to read him as advancing the thesis that the survival and security of the state and its political order must be realized first, before the exercise of political power could be held to any other moral standards, i.e., that the "reasons of state" trump all other moral considerations.

Although Machiavelli did not speak of human rights, the implication of this view is that concern for state security is normatively prior to any concern with individual human rights and freedoms, so that the state has the luxury to respect human rights only if doing so would be compatible with enforcing order and security.) Critically evaluate this thesis.