Our national interests.
Our vital interests.
We reserve the right to defend our interests.
Our legitimate interests.
Interests, interests, interests...
But what does this mean, really?
I'm deeply suspicious of these words, these stock phrases invoked to justify whatever it is we want to justify.
And I'm not well-versed in statecraft or political science, so I presume that the word "interest" has some technical meaning that I'm not privvy to.
Can someone help me?
What, precisely, are those "American interests" that mainstream opinion concedes need defending?
That's the first question.
That established, the second question is, what legitimates those interests?
Is there a political theory of legitimacy that people are implicitly invoking?
Is there some international treaty somewhere that delineates which interests are ours, at least in legal terms?
Then further, what about in moral terms?
Do we have a right to all those interests we claim rights to?
Why?
And even if we have an ethical right to defend them, does that mean we must defend them, whatever the costs?
Does it ever happen that we just surrender an "interest" because it's just not worth the cost?
What's the calculus employed for working this sort of thing out?
These are all very basic questions, but they're ones that I seldom hear examined in political discourse; yet, some basic understanding of them would seem critical if we are to be good citizens.
I'd like to hear from as many people as possible, whether you can offer "expert" analysis or whether you have your own questions to add or whatever.
The point is that I think this is a conversation that the left needs to engage in more often because I suspect that lack of clarity concerning "interests" is a dangerously untenable situation.
Thank you.