ABSTRACT
In the European theatre during the Cold War the potency of national interest as the core driving force of foreign policy, especially national security policy, was obscured by multilateralism. In the West those governments that pooled their military resources and integrated certain domestic economic functions with those of their neighbours chose to do so because, rightly or wrongly, they believed it to be in their country's national interest to do so. It may manifest itself in different policies in different eras, but serving the national interest is the primary objective of foreign policy for all states. In whatever kind of collective unit mankind has found itself, the safety of that unit from conquest, destruction or even partial injury has been the oldest preoccupation of leaderships. National security is an amorphous and elastic concept. It may be conceptualised in a narrow way, restricting it to military capabilities alone.
