Scribd
Upload
407 views4 pages

National Interest

National interest refers to the long-term security, well-being, and identity of a nation that its government and people seek to maintain and achieve in their relations with other nations. It includes vital components like physical, political, and cultural survival as well as non-vital variable components determined by circumstances. A nation's national interests guide its formulation of foreign policy goals and objectives to protect what it deems as necessary for its security and well-being. National interests are classified into primary, secondary, permanent, variable, general, specific, and international interests to precisely examine what a nation aims to secure.

Uploaded by

Amna Gul
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
407 views4 pages

National Interest

National interest refers to the long-term security, well-being, and identity of a nation that its government and people seek to maintain and achieve in their relations with other nations. It includes vital components like physical, political, and cultural survival as well as non-vital variable components determined by circumstances. A nation's national interests guide its formulation of foreign policy goals and objectives to protect what it deems as necessary for its security and well-being. National interests are classified into primary, secondary, permanent, variable, general, specific, and international interests to precisely examine what a nation aims to secure.

Uploaded by

Amna Gul
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

National Interest

Definition of National Interest:


1. National Interest means: “The general, long term and continuing purpose which
the state, the nation, and the government all see themselves as serving.” —
Charles Lerche and Abdul.

2. National Interest is: “What a nation feels to be necessary to its security and well
being … National interest reflects the general and continuing ends for which a
nation acts.” —Brookings Institution.

3. “National Interest is, which states seek to protect or achieve in relation to each
other. It means desires on the part of sovereign states.” —Vernon Von Dyke.
4. “The meaning of national interest is survival—the protection of physical, political
and cultural identity against encroachments by other nation-states”. —
Morgenthau.

5. National Interest means: “The values, desires and interests which states seek to
protect or achieve in relation to each other” “desires on the part of sovereign
states”. —V.V. Dyke.
6. National Interests can as defined as the claims, objectives, goals, demands and
interests which a nation always tries to preserve, protect, defend and secure in
relations with other nations.

Development in National Interest


The concept of National Interest is comparatively a new concept. In the ancient and
the medieval times also the states pursued certain substantial interests on the basis
of that their relations were conducted. In the early Middle Ages the laws of
Christianity formed the basis of these relations and the states were expected to
ensure that their laws etc. conformed to these principles. However, with the
emergence of the secular power, Church began to be looked upon as the enemy of
National Interest and the National Interests were equated with the interest of the
prince of the ruling dynasty. At that time the national interest meant the interest of a
particular monarch in holding fast to the territories lie already possessed, in
extending his domains and in aggrandizement of his house. But in course of time the
popular bodies challenged the authority of the monarchs and asserted themselves.
This resulted in the growth of democracy and the honour of the Prince was replaced
by the honour of the nation. Thus, the concept passed from the feudal and
monarchical system to the republic democratic system and soon gained a common
usage in the political and diplomatic literature. In short term, “National Interest”
gained currency with the emergence of the national state system, increase in
popular political control and the great expansion of economic relations.

Components of National Interest:


In describing the national interests that nations seek to secure a two-
fold classification is generally made:
(A) Necessary or Vital Components of National Interest and

(B) Variable or Non-vital Components of National Interests.

(A) Necessary or Vital Components:


According to Morgenthau, the vital components of the national interests that a foreign
policy seeks to secure are survival or identity. He sub-divides identity into three parts:
Physical identity, Political identity and Cultural identity.

Physical identity includes territorial identity. Political identity means politico-


economic system and Cultural identity stands for historical values that are upheld by a
nation as part of its cultural heritage. These are called vital components because
these are essential for the survival of the nation and can be easily identified and
examined. A nation even decides to go to war for securing or protecting her vital
interests.

A nation always formulates its foreign policy decisions with a view to secure and
strengthens its security. The attempts to secure international peace and security, that
nations are currently making, are being made because today the security of each state
stands inseparably linked up with international peace and security. Security is, thus, a
vital component of national interest. Each nation always tries to secure its vital
interests even by means of war.

(B) Non-vital or Variable Components of National


Interest:
The non-vital components are those parts of national interest which are determined
either by circumstances or by the necessity of securing the vital components. These are
determined by a host of factors—the decision-makers, public opinion, party politics,
sectional or group interests and political and moral folkways.

“These variable interests are those desires of individual states which they would, no
doubt, like to see fulfilled but for which they will not go to war. Whereas the vital
interests may be taken as goals, the secondary interests may be termed as objectives
of foreign policy.”
These objectives have been listed by V.V. Dyke and his list includes: Prosperity,
Peace, Ideology, Justice, Prestige, and Power. Though each state defines these
objectives in a manner which suits its interests in changing circumstances, yet these
objectives can be described as common to almost all states. Thus, national interest
which a nation seeks to secure can be generally categorized into these two parts.

Classification of National Interests:


In order to be more precise in examining the interest which a nation seeks
to secure, Thomas W. Robinson presents a six fold classification of
interests which nations try to secure.

1. The Primary Interests:


These are those interests in respect of which no nation can compromise. It includes the
preservation of physical, political and cultural identity against possible encroachments
by other states. A state has to defend these at all costs.

2. Secondary Interests:
These are less important than the primary interests. Secondary Interests are quite vital
for the existence of the state. This includes the protection of the citizens abroad and
ensuring of diplomatic immunities for the diplomatic staff.

3. Permanent Interests:
These refer to the relatively constant long-term interests of the state. These are subject
to very slow changes. The US interest to preserve its spheres of influence and to
maintain freedom of navigation in all the oceans is the examples of such interests.

4. Variable Interests:
Such interests are those interests of a nation which are considered vital for national
good in a given set of circumstances. In this sense these can diverge from both primary
and permanent interests. The variable interests are largely determined by “the cross
currents of personalities, public opinion, sectional interests, partisan politics and political
and moral folkways.”

5. The General Interests:


General interests of a nation refer to those positive conditions which apply to a large
number of nations or in several specified fields such as economic, trade, diplomatic
relations etc. To maintain international peace is a general interest of all the nations.
Similar is the case of disarmament and arms control.

6. Specific Interests:
These are the logical outgrowths of the general interests and these are defined in
terms of time and space. To secure the economic rights of the Third World
countries through the securing of a New International Economic Order is a
specific interest of India and other developing countries.

7. International Interests:
Besides these six categories of national interest, T.W. Robinson also refers to three
international interests—identical interests, complementary interests and conflicting
interests.

The first category includes those interests which are common to a large number of
states; the second category refers to those interests, who though not identical, can form
the basis of agreement on some specific issues; and the third category includes those
interests which are neither complementary nor identical.

However, this classification is neither absolute nor complete. The complementary


interests can, with the passage of time, become identical interests and conflicting
interests can become complementary interests. The study of national interest of a
nation involves an examination of all these vital and non-vital components of national
interest. The six fold classificatory scheme offered by T. W. Robinson can be of great
help to us for analyzing the national interests of all nations. Such a study can help us to
examine the behavior of nations in international relations.

All this makes it essential for every nation to formulate its foreign policy and to conduct
its relations with other nations on the basis of its national interests, as interpreted and
defined in harmony with the common interests of the humankind. The aim of foreign
policy is to secure the defined goals of national interest by the use of the national
power.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy