1. Unit 3 – National Security Britain has no permanent friends and no permanent enemies; she has permanent interests. Lord Palmerston – Great Britain’s Foreign Secretary under Queen Victoria, and later Prime Minister

2. Alliances Alliance. A formal agreement between two or more states to protect each other in case of attack. Alliances are not necessarily based on ideology or shared values – they don’t always mean the partners even like each other. To win the war. Why are we forming an alliance with Stalin? He’s a communist. And after the war, its world dominatio n for us!

3. Alliance of convenience. An alliance based on realpolitik. Such alliances are usually based on geopolitics and/or shared interests instead of shared values. –U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia –U.S. alliance with Pakistan Pervez, we need all the friends we can get in the region. You do realize that I’m basically a dictator, don’t you?

4. States form alliances in order to increase their own power and security. Most alliances are formed in response to a specific threat. Historically, some alliances were created to keep any one nation from becoming too powerful – to maintain a Balance of Power.

5. Important Point about Alliances No alliance has ever been permanent. Most alliances weaken and fall apart when the original threat subsides and some alliances shift in response to new threats.

6. Coalitions Coalition. A informal alliance consisting of countries that come together for a specific purpose. Unlike formal alliances, coalitions are usually temporary and meant to break apart once the common objective has been achieved. Recent U.S.-led coalitions include those formed to fight the war on terror and to invade Iraq. I know… I’ll form a coalition of the willing to invade Iraq. Either you are with us or against us – works great with unilateralism!