ABSTRACT
This chapter explains why national security and power are the central elements of our quest for an integrative and comprehensive theory of the political use of military force. It presents the concepts identified by scholars studying national security policy into this theory while leaving room for the foreign policy objectives. Defensive realism emphasizes the security dilemma of international politics. The US has enjoyed unparalleled security at home given its weak neighbors and the vast oceans around it. The evolution of US security policy and the manner in which it has affected the use of military force have been long and varied. The doyen of contemporary realism, Hans Morgenthau wrote extensively on the realist interpretation of American national interests. George Kennan is typically cast as a realist because of his sober and critical appraisals of US foreign policy. The Berlin Airlift operation seems to provide an easy test case for security-based explanations of the political use of military force.
