ABSTRACT
This chapter argues for a redefinition of US foreign policy objectives and a corresponding revision of the requirements of US national security. The most articulate defense of a relatively narrow and objective definition of US external interests and national security has been provided by George Kennan. One could be called preventive containment: almost every US administration has considered it in the national interest either to prevent developments that the Soviets could exploit to their advantage or to support forces and leaders deemed to constitute the best barrier against Soviet influence. The United States tends to see its national security as entailing the maintenance of conditions abroad that will allow the economy to function adequately—to obtain the energy, raw materials, and markets necessary to its prosperity. The United States ought to develop and strengthen the currently weak and fragmented international regime of human rights.
