The National Interest (Opinion)

U.S. right-center, foreign-policy realist

Background

The National Interest was founded in 1985 by Irving Kristol, a leading neoconservative intellectual, with Owen Harries serving as its first editor for about sixteen years. In its early decades the magazine hosted debates between neoconservative hawks and foreign-policy realists, reflecting Kristol's broad intellectual interests. Beginning in 2000, the Nixon Center — a think tank founded by former President Richard Nixon in 1994 — became a co-publisher, and by 2005 it was the sole publisher, shifting the magazine's editorial line firmly toward strategic realism. The Nixon Center rebranded as the Center for the National Interest in 2011, at which point it also became fully independent from the Nixon Foundation. The publication draws on thinkers in the tradition of Henry Kissinger, advocating a foreign policy grounded in balance of power and skeptical of expansive military commitments, NATO enlargement, and democracy-promotion campaigns. It is rated right-center by media watchdogs such as Media Bias/Fact Check, with generally factual but editorially selective coverage. Current editorial leadership includes editor Jacob Heilbrunn and executive editor Harry Kazianis, who also serves as senior director of national security affairs at CFNI.

Sources

1. The National Interest — Wikipedia
2. Center for the National Interest — Wikipedia
3. National Interest — Bias and Credibility (Media Bias/Fact Check)
4. Center for the National Interest (CFNI) — InfluenceWatch
5. The National Interest — SourceWatch
6. About Us — The National Interest
7. National Interest — Militarist Monitor

Profile compiled 2026-07-23; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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