Overview

The national security policies of the U.S. are complex and varied, encompassing military, diplomatic and economic relations with some 160 nations around the world. This chapter focuses on the roots of U.S. foreign and defense policy, the process of foreign and military policymaking and the military and economic dimensions of national security policy. The main points the chapter makes are:

• Since World War II, the United States has acted as world leader, a role that has substantially affected its military, diplomatic and economic policies.
• The United States maintains a high degree of defense preparedness, which mandates a substantial level of defense spending and a worldwide deployment of U.S. conventional and strategic forces.
• Changes in the international marketplace have led to increased economic interdependence among nations, which has had a marked influence on the U.S economy and on security planning. Increasingly, national security has been defined in economic rather than military terms.