Courses

Grand strategy is not just a buzzword that commentators and politicians toss around in the news; it is the subject of serious scholarly debate, the focus of intense military planning and diplomatic efforts, and a source of both conflict and stability in the realm of international politics. As such, it is imperative for those interested in international relations and today’s geopolitical environment to understand what grand strategy means, how it has been seen in the past, and the forms it might take in the future. This course aims to introduce students to the concept of grand strategy through a review of both academic and policy-oriented readings. We begin with an overview of the topic of grand strategy and the ways in which it has been defined throughout history. We then examine examples of grand strategy across space and time, from the ancient world, to the European states during the Napoleonic Era, to the strategies of the great powers during the world wars and beyond. We will follow this historical overview with a discussion of contemporary debates in American grand strategy, as well as an examination of the grand strategies of America’s competitors. Following this, we discuss the “building blocks” of grand strategy—economic power, military might, and political, societal, and diplomatic efforts—and then conclude with a discussion of the future of grand strategy in a world of renewed great power competition.