A political society does not live to conduct foreign policy; it would be more correct to say that it conducts foreign policy in order to live.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Kennan argues that foreign policy is a tool for national survival, not the primary purpose of a society.
- In plain terms
- Countries make foreign policy to keep themselves alive, not to live for the sake of making foreign policy.
- What can you take from it?
- Foreign policy serves the state, not the other way around.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What is the ultimate goal of a nation's external actions?
- How do states balance survival with ideals?
Another view
Sometimes foreign policy becomes an end in itself due to bureaucratic momentum.
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