THE MAIN purpose of this article is to analyse the north american foreign policy from the point of view of the national interest, at the same time that is tries to articulate this notion with the self-perception of a moral basis supporting the national interest. In a second moment the article discusses the present shape of the international system and the conditions under which the american hegemony is being exercised, and up to what extent the hegemony can be threntened. Finally, it examines the present trends created after the 11th September and the Bush government attitudes towards Irak, and the unilateralism prevailing in the White House, which reached its highest level in the "Bush Doctrine" recently announced.
