The National Interest and its Interpretation

1999 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslav Nincic
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
National Interest ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
Finite Set

This article discusses possible interpretations of the concept of national interest, with a view to providing a conception more analytically useful than those that have dominated the literature. It argues against the two most prevalent approaches. The first, most obviously represented by political realism, relies on a single overarching assumption that both encompasses the national interest and provides a standard for assessing how successfully it is pursued. The second, identifies a finite set of national objectives which, by possessing a large measure of the formal attributes by which the national interest is defined, are considered its proper subsets. While both approaches have their virtues, each is flawed as a method for establishing correspondence between policy and interest. The approach proposed here relies on a different principle altogether—the nature of the political procedure via which judgments about the link between foreign policy and national interest are made. The article argues that our ability to judge whether a policy does serve the national interest is intimately connected to how democratic the decision behind the policy is.

Review of Kenneth W. Thompson, Political Realism and the Crisis of World Politics: An American Approach to Foreign Policy (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press; London, Oxford University Press, 1960)

2021 ◽  
pp. 324-324
Author(s):  
Martin Wight
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Emotionally Disturbed ◽  
National Interest ◽  
World Politics ◽  
High Order ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Princeton University ◽  
Clear Vision

Wight described this book as a ‘primer or introduction’ to American realism concerning international politics, with attention to the views of Halle, Kennan, Lippmann, Morgenthau, Niebuhr, Nitze, and Spykman, among others. Thompson highlights continuities with traditional diplomatic theory, illustrated notably by Churchill’s statesmanship and political philosophy. In Wight’s view the book presents ‘original thinking of a high order’. Moreover, Thompson ‘brings out more clearly than some realists the limitations of the “national interest” principle’. Wight concludes that Thompson stands out as ‘a realist of the centre, likely neither to be accused of disparaging morality, nor to be so emotionally disturbed by the consequences of clear vision that he emigrates for Utopia.’

scholarly journals Towards a critical concept of the statesperson

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Beardsworth
Keyword(s):  
National Interest ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
Political Effects ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Classical Realism ◽  
Agent Of Change ◽  
Hans Morgenthau

This article considers convergence between classical realism and critical theory in relation to pressing political problems. It argues that the spirit of both traditions can help develop critical reflection on the state as an agent of change. I suggest that too much recent critical theorization has avoided the state in its attention to social movements, but that a critical concept of state leadership is now required to address global threats and challenges. The article rehearses this critical concept in three stages. It considers, first, how the concept of national interest drives statecraft in the authorship of Hans Morgenthau and how complex this concept is both in its own terms and with regard to the political effects of the nuclear revolution. It develops, second, a multi-layered concept of responsibility as the guiding concept of statecraft in a world of increasingly incompatible demands. It argues, third, that these concepts of national interest and responsibility need to be aligned with global imperatives so that a greater marriage between the global and the national is possible. I conclude that it is the task of contemporary critical thought to address this present through a reimagined political realism.

scholarly journals The COVID-19 Post-lockdown Italian Scenario from an Eco-Socio-Legal Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 99-116
Author(s):  
Fabio Ratto Trabucco ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
National Interest ◽  
The Political ◽  
Budgetary Policy ◽  
Interdisciplinary Perspective ◽  
Legal Perspective ◽  
The Social ◽  
Policy Proposals

This paper offers an analysis of the possible COVID-19 post-lockdown effects on the powerful factors that constitute the Italian national interest. The interdisciplinary perspective, being at the base of this study, considers a scenario characterized by three factors: time, budgetary policy, and communication. Since the social post-lockdown crisis began, Italy has been facing a problem of social justice in terms of participation, which is absent for now, especially in the political framework. The policy proposals should take account of unpopular decisions, whereas from a legal and geopolitical perspective it is necessary to have a more defined foreign policy, a clearer Italian positioning concerning international alliances with national interest as a reference point.

scholarly journals Afrocentrism, national interest and citizen welfare in Nigeria’s foreign policy maneuvers

F1000Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 997
Author(s):  
George Chimdi Mbara ◽  
Nirmala Gopal
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Total Failure ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

Background: Nigeria’s former Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, in his addresses of August and October 1, 1960, declared Africa as the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy. This policy thrust has remained a constant variable in the country’s diplomatic engagements over the years. The doctrine of Afrocentrism is predicated on the supposed manifest leadership role placed on Nigeria by nature. This made her leaders define Africa’s interest as Nigeria’s national interest, a development that has been contended to have no empirical bearing on the welfare of Nigerians thereby generating intense scrutiny. Consequently, this study evaluates the impact of Nigeria’s Afrocentric foreign policy thrust on the welfare of the ordinary Nigerians. The study further analyses the country’s gravitation towards citizen-centred diplomacy in 2007. These will help in comprehending the interaction between national interest and foreign policy in Nigeria, and to identify whose interests have been protected the most in Nigeria’s foreign policy pursuit – that of the ordinary citizens or the elites? Methods: Through the qualitative research method, in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with Key Informants (KIs) for data collection. Responses from field study are merged with other primary and secondary sources of data to provide an incisive and balanced analysis that is premised on political realism. Results: Findings indicate that Nigeria’s international generosity and leadership role has never been predicated on a clear vision of national interest. Notwithstanding the flaws in Nigeria’s foreign policy over the years, this study also discovered that the outcome has not been a total failure as some respondents maintain. Conclusions: With the nation’s gravitation towards citizen-centred diplomacy, it is hoped that the country will put the interest of its citizens first in her policy pursuits.

Political Realism as an American Tradition: A Comparison of Hans Morgenthau and the Federalists

1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-215
Author(s):  
Jean-Marie Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
National Interest ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Political Tradition ◽  
American Tradition ◽  
German Origin ◽  
Hans Morgenthau

For most Amcricans--be they scholars or laymen--Hans Morgenthau exemplifies what sympathetic commentators call political realism and less friendly critics Realpolitik. To the former as much as to the latter, Morgenthau's political philosophy appears as a turning point in the political tradition of the United Stales because of his reliance on national interest and his propensity to "speak truth to power" To be sure, Morgenthau's conspicuous german origin lent weight to the argument. Yet few critics have paid attention to the equally conspicuous fact that among the first advocates of realism in contemporary America.

The Star and the Stripes

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N. Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Theology ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
American Jews ◽  
Peace And Justice ◽  
The World ◽  
Policy Beliefs ◽  
Justice Movements

How do American Jews envision their role in the world? Are they tribal—a people whose obligations extend solely to their own? Or are they prophetic—a light unto nations, working to repair the world? This book is an interpretation of the effects of these worldviews on the foreign policy beliefs of American Jews since the nineteenth century. The book argues that it all begins with the political identity of American Jews. As Jews, they are committed to their people's survival. As Americans, they identify with, and believe their survival depends on, the American principles of liberalism, religious freedom, and pluralism. This identity and search for inclusion form a political theology of prophetic Judaism that emphasizes the historic mission of Jews to help create a world of peace and justice. The political theology of prophetic Judaism accounts for two enduring features of the foreign policy beliefs of American Jews. They exhibit a cosmopolitan sensibility, advocating on behalf of human rights, humanitarianism, and international law and organizations. They also are suspicious of nationalism—including their own. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that American Jews are natural-born Jewish nationalists, the book charts a long history of ambivalence; this ambivalence connects their early rejection of Zionism with the current debate regarding their attachment to Israel. And, the book contends, this growing ambivalence also explains the rising popularity of humanitarian and social justice movements among American Jews.

British foreign policy towards the Palestinian cause since 2003

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Mustafa Ibrahim Salman Al - Shammari ◽  
Dhari Sarhan Hammadi Al-Hamdani
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Topic Area ◽  
British Foreign Policy ◽  
Settlement Policy ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
Palestinian Question ◽  
Theresa May

The topic area of that’s paper dealing with role of Britain in established of Israel, so the paper argued the historical developments of Palestinian question and Role of Britain Government toward peace process since 1992, and then its insight toward plan of Palestinian State. That’s paper also argued the British Policy toward Israeli violations toward Palestinians people, and increased with settlement policy by many procedures like demolition of houses, or lands confiscation, the researcher argued the Britain position toward that’s violations beside the political developments which happens in Britain after Theresa May took over the power in Ten Downing Street

Humanising the Dehumanised: Emotion and Being in the Violence of the Islamic State (IS): An Alternative Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quraysha Bibi Ismail Sooliman
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Violence ◽  
The Political ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Religious Ideology ◽  
Alternative Perspective ◽  
Western Civilisation ◽  
Ongoing Project

This paper considers the effect of violence on the emotions of IS fighters and the resultant consequences of those emotions as a factor in their choice to use violence. By interrogating the human aspect of the fighters, I am focusing not on religion but on human agency as a factor in the violence. In this regard, this paper is about reorienting the question about the violence of IS not as “religious” violence but as a response to how these fighters perceive what is happening to them and their homeland. It is about politicising the political, about the violence of the state and its coalition of killing as opposed to a consistent effort to frame the violence into an explanation of “extremist religious ideology.” This shift in analysis is significant because of the increasing harm that is caused by the rise in Islamophobia where all Muslims are considered “radical” and are dehumanised. This is by no means a new project; rather it reflects the ongoing project of distortion of and animosity toward Islam, the suspension of ethics and the naturalisation of war. It is about an advocacy for war by hegemonic powers and (puppet regimes) states against racialised groups in the name of defending liberal values. Furthermore, the myth of religious violence has served to advance the goals of power which have been used in domestic and foreign policy to marginalise and dehumanise Muslims and to portray the violence of the secular state as a justified intervention in order to protect Western civilisation and the secular subject.

The Foreign Policy Mechanism of the Union Of South Africa and the Development of its Diplomatic Relations (1910–1948)

2020 ◽  
pp. 74-86
Author(s):  
Alexandra Arkhangelskaya
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
The Political ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
Economic Evolution ◽  
Local Elite ◽  
History Of

The history of the formation of South Africa as a single state is closely intertwined with events of international scale, which have accordingly influenced the definition and development of the main characteristics of the foreign policy of the emerging state. The Anglo-Boer wars and a number of other political and economic events led to the creation of the Union of South Africa under the protectorate of the British Empire in 1910. The political and economic evolution of the Union of South Africa has some specific features arising from specific historical conditions. The colonization of South Africa took place primarily due to the relocation of Dutch and English people who were mainly engaged in business activities (trade, mining, agriculture, etc.). Connected by many economic and financial threads with the elite of the countries from which the settlers left, the local elite began to develop production in the region at an accelerated pace. South Africa’s favorable climate and natural resources have made it a hub for foreign and local capital throughout the African continent. The geostrategic position is of particular importance for foreign policy in South Africa, which in many ways predetermined a great interest and was one of the fundamental factors of international involvement in the development of the region. The role of Jan Smuts, who served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and from 1939 to 1948, was particularly prominent in the implementation of the foreign and domestic policy of the Union of South Africa in the focus period of this study. The main purpose of this article is to study the process of forming the mechanisms of the foreign policy of the Union of South Africa and the development of its diplomatic network in the period from 1910 to 1948.

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