National Interest and state Foreign Policy Behavior: A Doctrinal Discourse of Nigeria and the USA

Abstract

National interest and foreign policy are interrelated concepts frequently used in discussions of international relations and international politics. Nation-states do not act irrationally or are naturally benevolent; policymakers employed the concept of national interest to justify their actions or inactions either external or internal. The focus of this paper is on the efficacy of national interest in shaping the foreign policy behaviour of Nigeria and the United State. This research work further to analyse the doctrinal base of Nigeria and US foreign policy. Data for this article was through a secondary source thus, the analysis was qualitative content analysis. It is argued in this paper that what constitutes the national interest of a state varies from one state to another, and is not static. However, the paper maintains that some national interests are constant even though regime changes. The paper to this end argued that there is no state foreign policy in the world that is devoid of national interests instead, they form the basis in which a country interacts with others in economic ties, diplomatic intercourse, military cooperation, cultural convergence and a lot more.