Star Trek is fundamentally different because it's a utopian vision of what could be after the revolution is won. One of the core messages of Star Trek is that if we improve ourselves and hold humanity to a higher standard, we won't have to keep choosing between doing the right thing and the greater good.
I would also argue that Sisko's pragmatism isn't confied to In the Pale Moonlight. He's still an idealistic starfleet captain living in the same post revolutionary Utopia as all the others. But his dealings with the Maquis and the way he trusts Odo and the others to skirt the rules in DS9 show that he's not up his own ass. His personality is of a no nonsense commander rather than Picard's learned diplomat. He was closest to a non utopic civilization than any officer in the federation.
Star Trek is fundamentally different because it's a utopian vision of what could be after the revolution is won. One of the core messages of Star Trek is that if we improve ourselves and hold humanity to a higher standard, we won't have to keep choosing between doing the right thing and the greater good.
I would also argue that Sisko's pragmatism isn't confied to In the Pale Moonlight. He's still an idealistic starfleet captain living in the same post revolutionary Utopia as all the others. But his dealings with the Maquis and the way he trusts Odo and the others to skirt the rules in DS9 show that he's not up his own ass. His personality is of a no nonsense commander rather than Picard's learned diplomat. He was closest to a non utopic civilization than any officer in the federation.