$700 billion can't be wrong!

In this day and age when you hear “national security” there’s a reflexive connection to nuclear proliferation, a massive military and excessive spending. But putting aside all our preconceived prejudices, national security is, and should always be, a leader’s primary goal for their state.
I want to touch on my very first blog post and the “physiological” needs of a state. According to Maslow’s hierarchy a person cannot progress to greater social relationships or creativity if they do not have basic needs taken care of; needs such as food, shelter and safety. Nations require similar such needs: population growth, productivity and absolutely security.
Security generally relates to stability, both internal and external. It’s difficult to develop industry or maintain human rights when you live in constant fear of outside attack. Machiavelli said that, “when princes think more of luxury than of arms, they lose their state.” He advocates maintaining arsenals and being prepared for war at all times, especially in times of peace. Tori once mentioned the importance of geography in world politics. Borders dictate anything from the interactions between ethnic groups to natural resource allocation, and the invasion and re-drawing of such borders is detrimental to national stability. Thus a state’s security and “territorial integrity” must be protected at all costs.
Of course there are a few exceptions, such as states not being vested in the interests of their own people (i.e. North Korea, which, unfortunately for its citizens, is quite “secure”). As a general rule of thumb, however, I would say that domestic security is of utmost importance to a state’s leader.