Across Type, Time and Space
American Grand Strategy in Comparative Perspective

This Element addresses the shortcomings of treating the US as a unique case by developing a framework for systematic comparison.

Peter Dombrowski (Author), Simon Reich (Author)

9781108972901, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 August 2021

75 pages
22.9 x 15.3 x 0.5 cm, 0.15 kg

The field of grand strategy is exceptionally American-centric theoretically, methodologically and empirically. Indeed, many scholars treat the United States as a unique case, and thus incomparable. This Element addresses the shortcomings of this approach by developing a novel framework for the purpose of systematic comparison, both within and among different countries. Using the United States as a benchmark, three dimensions are considered in which grand strategy can be compared: first, attributes of the major types commonly discussed in the literature; second, similarities and differences in the implementation of grand strategies over time, using US strategic relations with contemporary Russia as an example; and finally, across space, properties of the grand strategies that are interactively employed by other major powers in relation to the United States in the Indo-Pacific. The Element can be used by scholars and students alike to expand analysis beyond the confines that currently dominate the field.

1. Grand Strategy: Comparing across Time, Type and Space
2. Contrasting Assumptions and a Comparative Framework
3. Types of Grand Strategy
4. Comparing Administrations over Time: Continuity and Change
5. Grand Strategies in the Indo–Pacific
6. A Brief Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]