What is in our national interest?

Our diplomatic relations must be characterized by constructive engagement that maximizes mutual benefit, and preventive diplomacy to minimize the risk of armed conflict

We need to address “what is in our national interest” because knowing what it is provides a compass to what we must do as a people, both in government and society, to uphold and defend it. Our national strategy depends on what our national interests are and our hierarchy of national priorities. From those will flow the strategic plans for national security, defense, and development.

A sense of nationhood is an essential precondition to appreciate a discussion on national security policy. Currently, because of our social divisions and cultural (or tribal) diversity, our journey to nationhood, and a clear sense of what it requires, is still underway. However, that mind-set is what our national leaders need to chart the nation’s course toward a better Philippines for all. The Duterte administration’s 2040 Development Plan is an excellent case in point where the national interest and priorities were the underlay.

The national interest, or raison d’État (“reason of State”), embodies the country’s goals and ambitions — economic, military, or cultural. The concept is important in international relations. It is expressed in a set of determined priorities to ensure gross national well- being. Those priorities, demonstrated in policy and execution, are grounded on a set of values such as meritocracy, justice, honor, integrity and freedom vital to our national brand or identity, and to which we would be willing to pay a price to defend or promote them.

We live in an interdependent, competitive, and multi- polar world that interacts along the axis of security, diplomacy, and trade. It’s in our national interest to expand our economic and diplomatic relations as far as we can; but without losing sight of reality that there are natural and man-made threats to our national well-being. Those require crucial investments in civil and national defense to develop our wherewithal to engage our diverse worlds.

Securing the nation’s wellbeing is national security. It covers a broad spectrum — human security, ecological security, homeland security (civil defense and national defense), and moral integrity. It is in our national interest to develop our strengths in each of those domains to withstand and mitigate the risks to our fundamental right to live in a climate of enduring peace and sustainable prosperity.

It’s crucial for our security, defense, and development planners to know clearly what it is that we’re defending and upholding, and to map out our credible deterrence buildup accordingly. They need to have a clear sense of mission to drive defense procurement rather than the current practice that’s supplier and budget- driven in its glaring absence.

Because human existence is one of never- ending risk, our national interests and priorities should be risk- based. I would classify those risks as:

1) those that threaten national survival; e. g., all- out war to include nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons of mass destruction; the irreversibility of climate change and its global

impact on human and ecological security; collapse of the global economic and financial system.

2) those that threaten national security but not national survival; e.g., armed insurgencies, transnational crimes, and terrorism.

3) those that affect national well- being but not its overall security and survival; e. g., feudalistic practices, government capture, and poor civics that perpetuate the cultures of entitlement, exclusion, impunity, poverty, ignorance, corruption, and injustice.

It is in our national interest to have enduring peace at home and with the world. To attain it, our diplomatic relations must be characterized by constructive engagement that maximizes mutual benefit, and preventive diplomacy to minimize the risk of armed conflict injurious to our survival as a species and our national survival. This is why we need to have an independent foreign policy that strives to attain an equidistant relationship with all countries but keeping alliances strong and vibrant.

National unity, on the other hand, requires the resolution of our internal problems to become a nation characterized by social cohesion, cultural harmony, economic equity, and political maturity. We must settle our lingering inter-generational issues to unite and deal with external and future threats with strength. And that will require exceptional leadership and management skills by our nationally elected and appointed officials.

It is, therefore, in our national interest to have a governance system that enables us to elect qualified public servants to apply “whole of government” and “whole of nation” solutions to root causes like the oligarchy, injustice, poverty, ignorance, exclusion, impunity, armed insurgency, and the full spectrum of crime and corruption. It calls for:

a) functioning parties that select candidates imbued with a keen sense of nationhood and public service;

b) an honest and reliable electoral counting system;

c) a responsible system of public information and communication that shapes public thinking toward nation-building and ethical choices.

Good governance and good civics, in furtherance of participatory democracy for the common good, will fuel the journey to nationhood; enhance competitiveness; and underscore our reliability as a responsible member of the family of nations, security ally, trade partner, and investment haven. We need to develop a strong and diverse economy; restore and protect ecological balance; and build a credible defense shield for our people, territory and resources from any threat, foreign and domestic.

We must increase our investments in nation building — education, moral recovery, skills training, science and technology, research and development to reduce poverty, reverse the diaspora, reunite our families and reenergize the nation. Similarly, we need a strong Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Land Forces (including law enforcement) to thwart internal and external threats. Keeping our military alliances strong and relevant, and developing new ones, are just as important.

The Philippines is well placed to benefit from the rapidly developing information age. It is in our national interest to properly exploit its potentials to help build our nation in ways that would override our parochial prejudices and unite us in thought, word and deed; and build goodwill worldwide