U.S. Grand Strategy
in the 21st Century
Washington, DC
January 2016
From isolationism in the 1930s…
To neo-conservatism in the 2000s
What grand strategy is best for 21st century threats?
R I S E
O F
C H I N A
T E R R O R I S M
RUSSIAN AGGRESSION
NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION
C Y B E R
CLIMATE
W A R FA R E
CHANGE
Any successful strategy to ensure the safety of the
American people and advance our national security
interests must begin with an undeniable truth—America
must lead. Strong and sustained American leadership is
essential to a rules-based international order that promotes
global security and prosperity as well as the dignity and
human rights of all peoples. The question is never whether
America should lead, but how we lead.
—President Barack Obama,
National Security Strategy, 2015
COURSE TOPICS
•  What is a “grand strategy”?
•  What are the U.S. national interests?
•  When should Washington use force/foreign aid/sanctions/
diplomacy to achieve its goals?
•  Which grand strategies are advocated by scholars and
analysts and why?
•  Does President Obama have a grand strategy?
•  Is crafting a grand strategy a useful exercise?
POSSIBLE VISITS
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Brookings Institution
Center for a New American Security
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Council on Foreign Relations
National Counterterrorism Center
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of State
And more….