American Grand Strategy

overview

The term ‘grand strategy’ can be divided into two parts: the theoretical and the practical. At the theoretical level, grand strategy refers to the lens of geopolitical logic used to navigate international events and craft foreign policy. Practically, grand strategy denotes the process of planning and allocating national resources at the military, political, and economic levels to achieve national interests. Grand strategy also naturally evolves as new resources are acquired and shifting conditions make new interests salient. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, Charles Krauthammer observed that international politics had reached a “unipolar moment” of unrivaled American power. Now, over thirty years later, many experts observe that the world has returned to multipolar conditions in which great power competition—particularly against a rising China—defines the terms of American strategic thinking.

American grand strategy today, put in terms of great power competition, is focused on managing a series of efforts mainly from China, Russia, and Iran to unravel the U.S.-led international order with a wide range of subversive and sometimes openly violent methods. Conflict scenarios, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the prospect of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, continue to occupy the minds of U.S. defense planners. However, the nature of competition extends much further. Beijing’s enormous and growing economic, technological, and military resources have earned it the status of first rank competitor and a uniquely dangerous threat to the international order. Accordingly, the Pentagon has classified China as a “peer competitor,” a challenge that Washington has not faced since the Soviet Union.

Although the new consensus in Washington is that competition with China must be central to American grand strategy, various questions regarding how to balance the priority of China against other American interests remain unanswered. Should the United States continue to ‘pivot to Asia’ and extricate itself from commitments in the Middle East and Europe, instead relying on allies and partners to protect its interests in those regions? Can the United States regain strategic superiority over potential rivals in significant regions through a combination of diplomacy, technological investment, and military power projection? How important are Western-style institutions or human rights when the United States seeks allies and partners for its grand strategy—that is, to what degree should Washington only align with liberal democratic governments?

Other emerging and sustained threats also continue to complicate the American grand strategy debate. Notable among these are nuclear weapons proliferation, violent extremism, advancements in offensive cyberweapons and autonomous weapons systems, and the destabilization of friendly or neutral governments. Domestic pressures for revised policies on international trade, heavy industry, the information technology industry, border security, military intervention, and other issue areas also present U.S. policymakers with substantive concerns that must be addressed.

Policymakers must also consider previously remote frontiers which are growing in geopolitical importance. The Arctic and Near Space, for example, are becoming increasingly more accessible domains due to climate change and technological advances, respectively. In both realms, U.S. adversaries Russia and China have either strong presences or expanding footholds, investing in dual-use technologies which could help change the global balance of power should these areas be ignored by U.S. policymakers.

A successful American grand strategy must not only set the correct relationship between national priorities and available resources but also justify itself to both domestic and foreign audiences to earn the support a grand strategy needs to persist and prevail. In a complicated world rife with conventional and emergent threats alike, the United States must find a balance that allows it to maintain its place in the world and the integrity of the liberal, rules-based international order.

For Speaker Events

  • Should the United States sacrifice certain interests to focus on competition with China?

  • How can the United States handle threats from Russia and Iran while focusing on China as its prime competitor?

  • What is the purpose of NATO today?

  • Can the United States expect greater support from its allies on common goals? 

  • Has increasing American military strength historically made the world safer?

  • Do globalization and free trade benefit or harm American strategic competitiveness? 

  • How can the United States coordinate with its allies to ensure that Russia and China do not come to militarily and economically dominate the Arctic?

  • In what ways are Chinese technological advancements in Near Space a concern for policymakers?

  • Should the United States pivot from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific? 

  • Should promoting democracy be a central part of the American grand strategy? 

  • Is terrorism still a major threat to the United States?

  • What should be the U.S. nuclear strategy?

  • Is climate change a national security threat? Should the United States work with China and Russia to combat it? 

  • How do cybersecurity and information warfare feature in grand strategy?

  • What technological developments should the United States prioritize for strategic competition?

For roundtable discussions

For book clubs

  • Brands, Hal. What Good is Grand Strategy?

  • Dueck, Colin. Reluctant Crusaders: Power, Culture, and Change in American Grand Strategy.

  • Gaddis, John Lewis. On Grand Strategy. 

  • Ikenberry, John. After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars.

  • Kagan, Robert. The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World.

  • Mead, Walter Russell. Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World.

  • Zoellick, Robert B. America in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy.

Interested in starting a reading group for your chapter? If so, the books above are all excellent selections. Find a link to our reading group application below.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

1750 H STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20006 | INFO@HAMSOC.ORG