It is widely assumed that the country's elites will agree a new president, with their own economic and business interests paramount.
As a nationalist, Mr Abe claims to hold his country's interests paramount: he should prove that by focusing his energy on the urgent task of revitalising its economy.
White House officials counter that Mr. Obama has struck the best possible course so far, by keeping America's national security interests paramount while still articulating his belief in the pro-democracy protesters in Iran and his support for them.
His shtick: Make your own self-interest paramount, don't be motivated by what other people want and avoid "parasites" (his label for people who need help); only by doing this can you be true to yourself and truly "ethical".
The patient's right to forgo treatment, in the absence of some overriding societal interest, is paramount to the doctor's obligation to provide medical care.
Whose interest is paramount, the public's or the manufacturers'?
"The government has an interest of paramount importance in effectively conveying information about the health risks of smoking to adolescent would-be smokers and other consumers," she wrote.
A future where big media plays nicely with outside entities and where the consumer's best interest is paramount.
In Tocqueville's writings on Algeria, the French national interest is paramount and moral considerations are explicitly subordinate to political goals.
The rule is, partisan interest is paramount, and "principle" is just a hypocrite's window dressing.
Instead, as in Ashdown v Telegraph Group Ltd, the courts "bear in mind that considerations of public interest are paramount".
