National Interest

The word "national interest" refers to a country's aspirations and objectives, which can be military, economic, or cultural (Sunwoo, 2007). National interest is a vital term in international affairs since it defines the underlying reason for nation-states and political leaders' actions in dangerous international environments. A country's primary goal is to advance its national interests, and a state's primary national interests are related to defense, self-preservation, and the well-being of its people (Sunwoo, 2007). On the other hand, a nation-state is a term referring to a state with a combined political and cultural entity, from which it defines its political legitimacy to govern and gain a sovereign state status. In other words, nation-state refers to a combination of a state and a nation (Pin-Fat, 2005).

There exist a broad range of dangers in the use national interest as a rationale for nation-state behavior. One of such dangers is that it may increasingly be challenging for a nation-state to capture the needs and imagination of its citizens. That is because it may be difficult for a nation-state formed on the basis of a country’s national interest to provide simple and clear answers to the citizens regarding various government actions, as well as come up with slogans that effectively promote nationhood (Case, 2013). Additionally, national interest may not be the citizens’ most preferred choice of attaining the nation-state status, perhaps, because of various compromises relating to the imperfect world. Besides, a country’s use of national interest as a means of gaining the nation-state status may produce even worse results that undermine the citizens' interests (Case, 2013).

Another danger of the use of national interest as a rationale for nation-state behavior is that most citizens, who lack real experience and understanding of the impacts of political instability, find a country's insistence on national interest as a precondition for nation-state status to sound like a justification of its authoritarianism (Pin-Fat, 2005). For instance, adopting the “America First” slogan may sound like America’s withdrawal or isolation from global affairs in an attempt to affirm its nation-state status through the expression of its national interest, which is not a fair characterization (Pin-Fat, 2005).

Th use of national interest as a rationale for nation-state behavior may also lead to the eruption of unnecessary wars when country's attempt to use military approaches to defending their national interests and proving their nation-states status (Sunwoo, 2007). The outcome of such conflicts may be disastrous, and the Second World War is a perfect example. Besides, wars resulting from a nation-state's pursuance of national interests are often characterized by tensions and prolonged conflicts, which usually lead to the suffering of many innocent citizens by making them refugees, while others end up losing their lives (Sunwoo, 2007).

Additionally, while the concept of national interest has moral content, its use as a means of attaining the nation-state behavior may make it fail the test of morality. The welfare and security of a country's political body are essential and political leaders should have moral obligations of promoting the country's safety and well-being for the benefit of the citizens and the nation as a whole (Case, 2013). However, sometimes a diligent pursuit of a country's welfare or security may breach higher moral responsibilities. In other words, the pursuit of national interest as a rationale for nation-states behavior may sometimes risk other people's comfort and even cause disaster in international affairs (Case, 2013).

It is, therefore, essential for countries to evaluate and accurately identify the objectives and motives of their citizens and other states when pursuing their national interests. Besides, when crafting foreign policies, nations should rely on expert judgment to overcome the common propensity of interpreting nation-state behaviors within the boundaries of self-interest.

References

Case, W. (2013). Defending Borders: States and Nation-States in the ASEAN 5. Trans: Trans-Regional And -National Studies of Southeast Asia, 1(01), 45-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/trn.2012.3

Sunwoo. (2007). Individual's Interest and National Interest: Opposition or Accordance? Studies in Philosophy East-West, null (46), 241-262. http://dx.doi.org/10.15841/kspew.46.200712.241

Pin-Fat, V. (2005). The metaphysics of the national interest and the ‘mysticism’ of the nation-state: reading Hans J. Morgenthau. Review of International Studies, 31(02). http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s026021050500642x