Abstract
In this text written in 1952, Arnold Wolfers tries to point out the scope of the concept of national security, its meaning and its various implications as well as the way the states deal, and should deal, with it. We will first clarify the evolution of the notion of national interest, which encompasses the notion of national security, before discussing the implementation and the moral scope of a national security policy. The national interest can be seen as the pre-eminence of the interests of the nation, which can be understood as its main values (sovereignty, independence?). According to Wolfers this concept has faced two main evolutions. First of all it tends to be outweighed by the "mankind interest?. It seems very topical nowadays with the European integration and the dilution of national power. Secondly Wolfers asserts that there is a shift from a welfare society to a security conception of national interest. To finish, Wolfers stresses the importance of moral dimension in national security. When statesmen call for a security policy, they call for the sacrifice of some values (individual liberty) in the name of another (democracy).
