Who Really Defines National Security?

Abstract

This chapter explores the forces behind the formation of foreign policy and the defining of national security. It demonstrates that even within a democratic milieu, this cannot, normally, include independently formulated popular opinion. Nor is the average elected official the final arbiter of such policies. The chapter demonstrates that what really influences foreign policy and the defining of national security is an array of politically powerful special interests with the ability to materially support political parties and campaigns. It is this ability that puts these organizations in a position to substitute their parochial interests for the national interest. This chapter looks at the Zionist lobby as a case study of this power.