These socials relations are not fixed in stone for all time but the American national interest cannot be ascertained without considering them yes the united states has an interest in deterring or containing north Korea and Iran because of perceived hostility by contrast the united states has no apparent interest in containing the united kingdom given the more positive non-threatening pattern of relation between the two countries the importance of this bilateral essentially social relationship is augmented by international norms and how a state conceives of its identity all such factors influence a state definition of its particular national interests