The National Interest (TNI) is a prominent American magazine and leading journal on international affairs, grand strategy, foreign policy, defense, national security, military hardware, and U.S. politics, originally published bimonthly but ceasing its print edition in January 2023 to become an online-only publication after subscriber numbers declined from around 10,000 in the 1990s to approximately 2,000. Founded in 1985 by influential figures including Irving Kristol and Owen Harries, it is known for its association with the realist school of international studies and features in-depth analysis from policy experts, scholars, and practitioners. The magazine was acquired in 2001 by the Center for the National Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank established in 1994 by former U.S. President Richard Nixon as the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom, promoting Nixon's foreign policy principles with a focus on contemporary issues like great-power competition; it rebranded in 2011 amid tensions with the Richard Nixon Family Foundation and operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with reported revenues of $1.4-3.1 million and 9-18 employees in recent filings. Edited by journalist Jacob Heilbrunn since July 2013, the publication emphasizes pragmatic approaches to global affairs over ideological extremes and has evolved into a key venue for debates on U.S. national security, geopolitics, and international economics, earning recognition as one of RealClearWorld's Best World Opinion Websites in 2013. It has published articles by notable figures such as Paul Wolfowitz and Maria Butina, who in 2015 advocated closer U.S.-Russia ties under a Republican president before her 2018 conviction as an unregistered Russian agent. The acquisition led to significant controversy in 2005 when ten editors, including Francis Fukuyama, resigned over editorial direction and formed a rival publication, The American Interest. The magazine and its parent organization have been influential in conservative and realist circles, occasionally drawing criticism for perceived pro-Kremlin leanings—such as commentator James Kirchick's 2016 labeling of them as among the most sympathetic to Moscow in Washington amid scrutiny of Donald Trump's Russia ties—while often critiquing interventionist policies and advocating for strategic restraint.