* a brief comment:
It's not just politicians - many people use the term "national interest" loosely, as a vague and multifaceted phrase that is difficult to argue against.
"National interest" is generally defined as the benefit or well-being of the entire nation, and specifically includes such things as national security, economic development, improvement of citizens' living standards, and the enhancement of a country's status in the international community. But then, what exactly is a "nation"? A nation is said to be a political community consisting of a defined territory, the people who live there, and the organization (i.e., the government) that governs them.
When "national interest" is used to mean "the interests of the state," it does not necessarily refer to the interests of the entire population. It may refer only to the majority, or in extreme cases, merely to the interests of the ruling party's supporters, meaning that other citizens may be sacrificed or excluded in the process.
In times of war, the meaning of "national interest" tends to become even more confused. During World War II, for example, it was considered in Japan's "national interest" for the military to kill large numbers of enemy nationals (namely, British and American people). Likewise, from the standpoint of the enemy (e.g., the United States), killing large numbers of Japanese people was deemed in their national interest. In the air raid on Tokyo and other similar attacks, the victims were not limited to soldiers; more than 100,000 civilians were killed.
If maximizing the number of enemy deaths is considered part of the national interest, then mutual mass killing becomes a means of advancing the interests of both nations, or even of humanity as a whole, by reducing its numbers. One might respond, "Well, we wouldn't kill them if they just surrendered," but that is no justification. Atrocities committed in enemy territory are often brushed off as acts of patriotism, and revealing such inconvenient facts can be dismissed as slander or even labeled "unpatriotic."
Of course, such wartime reasoning is irrational. Whenever someone invokes the term "national interest," we should be cautious and ask them exactly what they mean by it. What kind of interest, for whom, and at what cost?
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