The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (177 page)

A political party formed in 1967 by a merger between a number of fringe groups whose leaders hoped thereby to establish an extreme right presence within the political system. The party's ‘esoteric’ or ‘insider’ ideology was neo-Nazi and centred upon nationalism,
anti-Semitism
, and imperialism, but its ‘exoteric’ or mass appeal was based upon exploiting popular opposition to immigration from the New Commonwealth. As such, on occasions when the established parties were perceived to be flouting public opinion by allowing sudden influxes of immigrants, the National Front (NF) was able to benefit electorally, and the party gained dramatic increases in support in 1972–3 and again in 1976–7. On the last occasion, its success shocked both the left and the right, and the former responded by establishing organizations such as the Anti-Nazi League while the latter promised tougher immigration controls. These measures proved effective in countering the NF which saw its vote collapse in the general election of 1979. In the wake of this, the party fragmented into a number of splinter groups. One of these, the British National Party, scored a modest share of the vote in a traditional heartland of the far right, the East End of London, in 1993–4.
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The interest of a state, usually as defined by its government. Two broad usages may be identified.

(1) Use by politicians in seeking support for a particular course of action, especially in foreign policy. Given the widespread attachment to the nation as a social and political organization, national interest is a powerful device for invoking support. The term is used by politicians to seek support for domestic policy objectives, but here it is less persuasive given the normal extent of differences on domestic policy and hence employed less. In foreign policy in contrast, the term invokes an image of the nation, or the
nation-state
, defending its interests within the anarchic international system where dangers abound and the interests of the nation are always at risk.
(2) Use as a tool for analysing foreign policy, particularly by political realists, such as Hans Morgenthau . Here national interest is used as a sort of foreign policy version of the term ‘
public interest
’—indicating what is best for the nation in its relations with other states. This use of the term emphasizes not merely the threat to the nation from the international
anarchy
, but also the external constraints on the freedom of manoeuvre of the state from treaties, the interests and power of other states, and other factors beyond the control of the nation such as geographical location and dependence on foreign trade. This analytical usage of the term places much emphasis on the role of the state as the embodiment of the nation's interest. The realists' use of the term national interest in evaluating foreign policy has focused on national security as the core of national interest. ‘Interest of state’ and ‘national security interest’ are closely allied terms.

The difficulty with the analytical usage of the term is the absence of any agreed methodology by which the best interests of the nation can be tested. Some writers have argued that the best interests are, nevertheless, objectively determined by the situation of the state within the international system and can be deduced from a study of history and the success/failure of policies. Other writers concede that national interest is subjectively interpreted by the government of the day. In this version, national interest is similar to the politician's rhetorical usage of the term—the national interest is merely what the politician says the national interest is.
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National Security Council
(NSC)

American executive agency, part of the Executive Office of the President, that oversees issues concerning national security, both domestic and international. The agency was formed in 1947, and consists of the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness. The NSC is essentially a policy-recommending body, but because of its small size it can respond to crises quickly, and its powerful membership ensures that its decisions are influential. The NSC also has the function of overseeing the operations of the CIA. It is accused by some critics of operating as a rival State Department, often with better access to the President than the ‘real’ State Department.

 
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In Germany the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) rose to power under its leader Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) (who was appointed Chancellor in 1933) and sought to effect a complete transformation of state and society, creating in effect a ruthless dictatorship and single-party monopoly of power which has come to be seen as a form of
totalitarianism
. Ideologically National Socialism combined an extreme form of
nationalism
(including strongly racist and anti-Semitic beliefs in the superiority of the Germanic-Aryan community over all other alien peoples and cultures) and a distinctive concept of state-led
socialism
which was far removed from both revolutionary
Marxism
and
social democracy
. The overriding aim was to inaugurate a new epoch of history embodied in a Third Reich or empire in which a territorially enlarged German nation would become the dominant force in world politics. A strongly militaristic focus drew National Socialist Germany into an acceptance of war as a necessary means of achieving national ambitions and in particular the goal of greater
Lebensraum
(or ‘living-space’ for the German
Volk
). Only with the military defeat of Germany in 1945 and the deliberate policies of de-Nazification which were subsequently implemented by the occupying powers was the National Socialist movement finally eradicated. Since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 various right-wing nationalist movements and political parties have emerged, and some of these have been seen as ‘neo-Nazi’ in character. In this sense the anxiety over the possibility of new forms of National Socialism arising—not only in Germany but in other European countries—has persisted. See also
fascism
;
nationalism
.
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