Source: Cato Institute
by Pierre Lemieux
“Politicians, government officials, and foreign policy analysts (especially of the ‘realist’ sort) regularly speak of the ‘national interest.’ The meaning of this expression may seem obvious: It is the public interest when the public considered is composed of the individuals within a ‘nation’ (as opposed to the ‘global public interest’ or a ‘sub-national public interest’). I take ‘nation’ to mean a society of individuals, not simply their state. But in reality, just as with the ‘public interest’ in general, the ‘national interest’ has little scientific or rationally ascertainable meaning.” (Fall 2026)
https://www.cato.org/regulation/fall-2026/dangerous-national-interest