What Do You Know About The National Interests And Foreign Policy?

Another proposition which deserves attention is as to how far the national interests influence the formulation of the foreign policy of a country. Though the states generally do not publicly admit that their foreign policies are based on their self-interest, sometimes responsible people have admitted this fact. For example Hughes, American Secretary of State admitted in the I920's that "Foreign policies are not abstractions but the results of practical concepts of national interest." Margenthau in his article "Another Great Debate:

The National Interest of United States" also asserts that the foreign polity "seeks the defense of the national interest by peaceful means" and to defend the national interest restrictively and rationally defined "against the national interests of other nations which may or may not be thus defined". Another scholar has observed "national leaders as a rule never pursue national policies that are in the interest of any nation other than their own." Different /national interests may overlap or be in harmony with one another but no ; president, prime minister or foreign secretary in full possession of his faculties-especially sense of his own political and personal survival would openly and knowingly initiate or implement policies that would favor another nation and damage his own. He further asserts "In planning, formulating, adopting and executing foreign policy, national leaders and their aides are confronted with a veritable spider's web of conflicting claims and values.