Ce film est dédié à Jean Rostand qui, peu de temps avant sa mort, déclarait : “Si, depuis ma naissance, tous les pays du monde avaient consacré à la recherche biologique les sommes qu’ils ont englouties dans la fabrication des armes, aujourd’hui nous serions capables de prolonger la vie des hommes jusqu’à 120 ans et de conserver leur jeunesse jusqu’à 90.”

La Raison d’Etat brazenly kicks the lid off one of the most scandalous aspects of government activity, namely flagrant behind-the-scenes involvement in the arms trade […]. Cayatte does allow his enthusiasm to run away with itself, to the detriment of the script which occasionally comes across as a didactic, anti-establishment rant. The demarcation between good and evil is more clearly established than in many of Cayatte’s other films, and consequently there is an unfortunate drift towards caricature. As a result, the director somewhat undermines the force of his argument, but not to the extent of weakening his compelling narrative […]. La Raison d’état is still scarily pertinent. Governments may come and go, but the same skulduggery goes on forever. James Travers, 2014.