Rethinking American Grand Strategy

Features

• Broadens the range of topics treated historically as part of grand strategy, as well as the range of experts offering the analysis
• Offers depth around questions such as why history matters in specific sets of contexts
• Brings together a group of preeminent scholars, many of the best and most well-regarded thinkers in the field today, to construct a historically rich account of how Grand Strategy has developed and operated in American history

About the Author(s)

Elizabeth Borgwardt, Associate Professor of History and Law, Washington University in St. Louis, Christopher McKnight Nichols, Director of the Center for the Humanities and Associate Professor of History, Oregon State University, Andrew Preston, Professor of American History, University of Cambridge.

Elizabeth Borgwardt is an associate professor of history and law at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of A New Deal for the World: America's Vision for Human Rights.

Christopher McKnight Nichols is Director of the Center for the Humanities and Associate Professor of History at Oregon State University and the author of Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age.

Andrew Preston is Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge and the author of Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy and American Foreign Relations: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2019), among other books.

Reviews

"While the volume invites researchers and historians to revisit colorful American characters and grand American ideas, it does not inundate the readers with terminology or language that undermine the appeal of the book to casual observers of American history....This book should be welcomed at any institutional, public, or home library....Aspiring military leaders should avail themselves of the opportunities that this book has to explore, such as vital military operations other than war." -- Mark S. Cogan, Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs

"Rethinking American Grand Strategy was thought provoking and enjoyable to read." -- S.C.M. Paine, War in History

"This fascinating and carefully organized anthology examines U.S. grand strategy from the Federalists to the present and strategists from W.E. B. du Bois to George H.W. Bush, from angles ranging from diplomacy to race....Thought provoking and enjoyable to read, a volume that invites further research." -- S. C.M. Paine, War in History

"This volume... is a valuable contribution to the task of broadly rethinking the goals and tactics of U.S. foreign policy. The analyses it presents aresolidly rooted in history and provide thought-provoking insights into issues and actors that grand strategists rarely consider." -- Jessica T. Mathews

"'Grand strategy' is a term that is as difficult to define as it is widely used by scholars and practitioners. This volume's editors and contributors believe that the concept needs to be reconceived....It should be broadened beyond its roots in military affairs and conventionally defined security to include a variety of additional issues, such as immigration, public health, demographics, international assistance, and climate change. It also needs to reach beyond its traditional focus on the state as the only important player to include other influential voices and actors....This volume...is a valuable contribution to the task of broadly rethinking the goals and tactics of U.S. foreign policy. The analyses it presents are solidly rooted in history and provide thought-provoking insights into issues and actors that grand strategists rarely consider" -- Jessica T. Mathews, Foreign Affairs

"This is, overall, a fantastic book. It's incredibly thought provoking and well researched. I appreciated that it challenged the current ways of thinking of Grand Strategy, and questioned the approaches taken by leaders throughout American history...This book would be a great read for a student of American History, Government, or Political Science, and I believe it offers a unique perspective to anyone looking to understand the use of Grand Strategy over the past two centuries." -- Kyra Young, Corvallis Advocate

"I have never seen the words 'grand strategy' and 'global health' in the same sentence, much less an exploration of race and grand strategy. Rethinking Grand Strategy is not what you likely expect, and is far better for it. It is a genuine step toward changing what we think about when we think about grand strategy and who does the thinking." -- Anne-Marie Slaughter, Professor Emerita, Princeton University

"This is a terrific collection on the highs and lows of US grand strategy and the debate over its significance. Giving ample room for dissenting voices, the volume reaffirms the necessity of strategic thinking for producing favorable outcomes on issues ranging from national security to reproductive politics." -- O.A. Westad, Yale University