Blog Post
The report on America''s National Interests, produced by the Belfer Center, provides a clear framework for deter mining America''s most important national interests. The bipartisan Commission on America''s National Interests includes National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Senators John McCain and Pat Roberts, Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill, homeland security team member Richard Falkenrath, and other prominent policymakers.
The Commission identifies the most vital U.S. interest as:
· Preventing, deterring, and reducing the threat of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons attacks on the United States or its military forces abroad.
National interests include the following:
· The highest aim of U.S. national security policy should be to prevent nuclear or biological weapons attacks against American cities, civilians or military forces.
· All global stockpiles of nuclear weapons and weapons-usable nuclear material should be maintained in conditions of security, safety, and accountability.
· U.S. vulnerability to all forms of inter national and domestic terrorism should be reduced and states which support international terrorism, or shelter individual terrorists, should be punished and convinced to desist.
· Terrorist groups should be prevented from acquiring weapons of mass destruction and using them against U.S. citizens, property and troops
http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/BCSIA/ Library.nsf/pubs/NatInterest2.