grand strategy

grand strategy, a country’s most complex form of planning toward the fulfillment of a long-term objective. The formulation and implementation of a grand strategy require the identification of a national goal, a thorough assessment of the state’s resources, and, ultimately, the marshaling of those resources in a highly organized manner to achieve the goal. Although a grand strategy is concerned with national affairs both in times of war and in times of peace, national strategies historically have been predicated on the existence of an enemy that needs to be overcome. To that end, policy makers attempt to develop the best possible way of coordinating military prowess, political leverage, diplomatic ability, and economic might within a cohesive national strategy.

The notion of a grand strategy is notoriously elusive, because scholars, politicians, and military leaders tend to define it in considerably different ways. Most people do, however, agree that the formulation and execution of a grand strategy are extremely complex operations, incorporating a wide array of political, economic, military, and even psychological dimensions. A wartime strategy is said to become “grand” when it is concerned not only with winning the war but also with securing a comfortable, lasting peace. A grand strategy provides a national vision for the future and a precise plan for the fulfillment of that vision.

Achieving the goals of a grand strategy presupposes more than the successful prosecution of a war or the economic development of a country. It also requires a concerted effort on the part of a significant segment of society. In other words, upon its formulation by policy makers, a grand strategy requires a measure of national consensus or, at the very least, the absence of general resistance to its goals. In addition, a grand strategy needs to exhibit considerable flexibility. Dramatic events such as the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States can produce unpredictable changes in a country’s political and economic environment, and a solid grand strategy needs to be able to adapt to such developments.

Formulating an effective grand strategy is a matter of balancing means and ends, setting realistic goals, and then devoting all the necessary resources to achieving those goals. When drafting a national strategy, a country’s decision makers need to carefully consider a series of historical and psychological factors, such as the country’s foreign-policy traditions and its tolerance for different levels of confrontation. For example, a strategy that relies heavily on creating multilateral defense alliances is arguably more easily implemented by a country that has a history of internationalism than by one that has sought isolation or political neutrality.

Those who attempt to devise a grand strategy also have to identify, with a high degree of accuracy, the quantity and quality of the country’s available resources. If, for example, a country is to run its affairs in accordance with a strategy that relies on the prosecution of war, the country’s leaders need to know how much money they can devote to the armed forces, as well as the exact situation of available manpower and weaponry. In terms of military choices, the makers of a grand strategy have to decide between such things as offensive versus defensive operations, wars of attrition versus surprise attacks, and regional conflicts versus global conflicts.

In some circumstances, a country will discard a grand strategy and adopt a new one to accommodate new national goals. For example, because of its unprecedented scale, World War I can be said to have dramatically changed the grand strategy of every country involved. Diplomatically, the war refocused U.S. strategy on foreign alliances and extensive alliance making. The period following the war was one of reconstruction, with the United States emerging as the world’s premier economic power but again seeking political isolation.

World War II required a “total war” strategy similar to that of the previous conflict and once again compelled the United States to forge strong foreign alliances. After the war the country’s grand strategy emphasized the containment of communism, which remained a national goal throughout the Cold War. Containment became obsolete with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was replaced by a strategy of global economic dominance secured by a credible threat of devastating military force. The September 11 attacks ushered in a new strategic phase characterized by the pursuit of a global war on terrorist groups and on countries perceived as harbouring them. The current U.S. grand strategy continues to be defined by the stated goal of fighting worldwide terrorism.