4.0

credits

Average Course Rating

What is Grand Strategy? How do governments harness all elements of national power to accomplish a state’s political objectives? This course examines the problems associated with the articulation and execution of grand strategy through an examination of the legacy from the founding of the U.S. through the inter-war years, with a focus on the American experience since the end of World War II. Beginning with the strategy of coalition warfare during World War II, students will consider how U.S. leaders from Roosevelt to Obama have come to grips with questions of prioritizing national objectives, leveraging comparative American advantages vis-à-vis adversaries, articulating goals, and executing plans against a backdrop of competitive democratic politics. Students will also examine the periodic strategic adjustments that Presidents and their advisors have had to undertake. Drawing on both primary strategy documents and a rich secondary literature, the course will range from NSC 68 to President Obama’s West Point Address. In the end, students will assess the whether grand strategy remains an option in a period of partisan gridlock, political polarization and purported national decline. <a href="http://bit.ly/1bebp5s" target="_blank">Click here to see evaluations, syllabi, and faculty bios</a>